Tell me a secret
by sakurananachan
Summary: Everybody has secrets, even the best of friends... After all, if they had kept so many secrets from each other, what was yet another one? SasuNaruSasu, AU
1. Chapter 1

So this is something that I've been writing for some time now, and also is my first betaed (is that even a word?) story.

THANK YOU Divinely Insane!!!

Well I haven't decided yet on where this story is going, but so far is going somewhere hehehe!

Don't own anything blah blah blah!

ENJOY!!!

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡**

-"Have you ever seen this site? Is where people post their secrets and stuff like that, is really cool!"- said Naruto as he was chopping down the lettuce for their dinner.

It wasn't normal for the three of them to have a night off, all of them together at the same time, so they decided to "celebrate" this happening with a dinner cooked by the three. Sakura and Sasuke wisely decided that Naruto was not to come anywhere near the stove, and so he was chopping some of the vegetables they were going to use.

Not like that was more safe, but it only meant they could control the chaos that was him.

-"If you have enough free time, you should use it on doing you final project"- reprimanded Sakura from the stove stirring some of the ingredients on the pan.

-"Oh oh! Mother hen mode is on! Watch out!"- interjected Naruto playfully again in fear of another motherly comment from his housemate.

-"Shut up dope, before you get yourself another bump on the head"- mumbled Sasuke as he washed the dishes from the sink.

-"You are no fun guys! Really it's an interesting site; don't you want to see it?"- asked Naruto finally putting down the knife on the cutting board; the salad, which consisted mainly of tomatoes, was placed in the counter and Sasuke eyed it wondering why had the blond put much more tomatoes than necessary, but didn't comment on it.

-"If we do will, you shut up?"- asked Sasuke with an almost-not-there smirk in his lips.

-"Yeah!"- responded Naruto enjoying the smirk he got from the other.

-"Then let's see your freak show, shall we"- added Sakura as an after thought as she turned the stove down and started serving each their portion.

Both the raven and the female watched Naruto race to his room and a small smile formed itself in their lips.

They had met each other in high school and since then been like a family… In a way they were, none of them really had one to begin with…

Naruto had lost his parents at the age of eight, they had been mugged and killed one night; Sasuke's parents had gotten a divorce when he was ten and then they went their separate ways leaving him and his older brother behind, sometimes they would send them money, but they hadn't seen them in like forever; Sakura lost her father in a car accident and since then her mother lost herself, she was only twelve.

The bright blond came back carrying his beaten up laptop into the dining room, a grin plastered in his features.

Somehow this childish aspect of his friend always made Sasuke smirk, not quite smile, because he never smiled, but smirking was okay in the presence of his "family".

-"Come over here"- said Naruto nodding with his head towards them while placing his laptop on the table moving the salad bowl a little too close to Sasuke's side of the table.

Sasuke took his seat and grabbed a tomato from the salad bowl secretly thankful at having it so close to him and leaned over to his left to look at the screen. The background was a picture of the three of them on the last trip they had taken together.

When Sakura and Sasuke saw the background image they looked at each other feeling moved by the fact that Naruto had that picture as his background.

Secretly Sasuke had set his own screen saver to show a slideshow of all their pictures taken at his last birthday, when Naruto and Sakura had taken him to Buffalo to eat those chicken wings he loved so much; they had travel for at least 10 hours, mainly because Naruto kept getting lost over and over again… It had been so worth it!

-"Oh! Here it is!"- said Naruto excited about it all.

It always amazed Sakura how Naruto could turn every little thing into something really important, and she was thankful for this. If it hadn't been for this she would be probably sitting alone on a dark apartment watching some cheesy soap opera.

-"These people send their secrets to this guy right"- he said and took a bite of the stir fry Sakura had made for the three of them: -"And then they get published here every Sunday"- he said as he took yet another bite: -"Sakura your cooking skills are getting better; should we be thanking fuzzy-eyebrows for it?"- added the blond playfully smirking at his "sister".

She just rolled her eyes in a playful manner and let the joke slip, just this time.

-"So these are just random people who send their secrets? Why would anyone want to share their secrets with complete strangers?"- asked the raven serving the three of them lemonade, adding a little extra for Naruto as a _thank you_ for the tomatoes on the salad.

-"Well, because not everybody likes to live with a feeling of oppression on their chest Sasuke"- interjected Sakura munching on her salad not even questioning the fact that it had a little to much tomatoes for her taste, she knew why…

Naruto looked at her as if she had grown a second head and stole a glance at Sasuke to check if he wasn't going to jump the female and choke her to death; but was even more surprised to find a very peaceful Sasuke munching on his tomato salad.

Maybe he was being nice to her because her birthday had been a couple days ago?

There was a peaceful silence while the three of them kept on eating, each one of them lost in their own thoughts.

-"Wow! This one is cool! Look at it!"- Naruto suddenly exclaimed and pulling at Sakura's hand as well as Sasuke's; Sakura didn't fail to notice Naruto's hand lingered a little longer on the ravens' one, but didn't comment on it.

On his screen there was an image of a picture taken from above, people seating at a bench and a message on top of it: _We're all waiting for something._

And in fact they were…

Sakura was waiting to get her internship at the main hospital of the city where the important things happened; Sasuke was waiting for a letter of response of that law firm he had applied for; Naruto was waiting for inspiration to finally hit him so he could finish his graduation project as a photograph major.

They were all waiting for something…

Naruto let out a sigh, but he himself didn't know if it was due to tiredness or sadness or just simply to break the silence that seemed to have taken over the room.

The raven sitting next to him eyed him for a few moments. He noticed how the tan skin seemed to be losing it's shine, the bags under the eyes, those were unmistakable: Naruto was going through one of those blocks when he spend all his time wondering what to do next.

Naruto never spoke to anybody about his little creative blocks, but Sasuke and Sakura prided themselves in being the only ones to notice this.

-"Have you ever sent a secret?"- asked Sasuke trying to take importance out of the question.

-"No… I'm not sure I have any secrets to share…"- said the blond with a thoughtful look in his blue eyes while his fingers absentmindedly played with the napkin he was holding.

-"Oh I think you do!"- snickered Sakura: -"We all do…"- she added this time sounding more cryptic than she ever did in all her life, or so thought Naruto as he saw her move her food around her plate.

They kept their silence; they didn't need to know each other's secrets right now. When the right time came they would share it with each other.

That night they watched a movie while eating popcorn, Sasuke still munching on what was left of the tomato salad from dinner.

A week went by rather quickly.

Sakura finally got her acceptance card from the hospital; she was going to be working with Doctor Tsunade, one of the greatest surgeons in the medical field.

Sakura was thrilled!

Sasuke hadn't heard back from the law firm, but Naruto knew he was going to get that job; there was no better man for the job than his "brother".

Sunday caught up to them.

A beaten up Sakura made her entrance at around 10 at night; Sasuke, who had been working on a case, had arrive only half an hour before Sakura; and Naruto, who had found his desired inspiration and had been working on it ever since it hit him 3 days ago, decided to take a break.

And so the "family" gathered at the kitchen counter, too tired and hungry to make it all the way to the table, munching on Chinese food leftovers from Naruto's last dinner.

-"So how was the hospital today Sakura?"- asked the raven as he stretched in an attempt to crack his back not being quite successful.

-"It was okay. We had a major pile up on the 94 highway and so a lot of people came in with rather bad injures"- mumbled Sakura in between munches.

-"Yeah, I heard about it in the radio this afternoon. I heard it was really bad"- said Naruto adding his 50 cents to the conversation.

-"And how about you Naruto?"- asked the female as she eyed the blond and then gazed at the raven sensing he had wanted to ask that same question.

-"Well I wanted to keep going, but I'm beaten up right now. I think I'll take a break and check my email, I haven't checked it in like forever"- answered the blond stuffing his mouth with the last mouthful of noodles and then disposing of the container.

Sasuke watched the retreating back of the blond into the living room and decided that he too should check his email, even if it's just to do something to get his mind out of that ridiculous case of divorce. He caught himself thinking of his parents; his mother had sent him a check a few days ago. He didn't even open it, he sent it back untouched.

It wasn't until he checked his laptop clock that he realized it was well past midnight, but who cared, it was Sunday and he could oversleep that day, if only just that day.

-"Oh! They're up!"- exclaimed the blond excited about something, derailing Sasuke out of his thoughts of broken families and divorces.

-"What?"- asked Sasuke even if it's just to ask something.

Sakura had long since turned her lights out and was now probably on cloud nine.

-"The Sunday post! From Share a Secret!"- exclaimed Naruto again as he looked intently at the screen. Sasuke briefly wondered if everything Naruto said came out as an exclamation; he wanted to chuckle at the fact that, indeed, all in Naruto's life was a big exclamation sign.

He seated himself next to Naruto and the old couch cringed at the added weigh.

-"Cool! They seem interesting"- said Naruto as he slowly scrolled down.

Sasuke made a comment or two about some of the postcards. His shoulder and Naruto's were brushing and the raven's hair was tickling him on the cheek, but having the raven close like this was worth it, so he didn't say anything about it.

A postcard caught his attention…

It was a very simple postcard, but that was what made it stand out the most; a tomato in the middle of the picture, a plain dark background behind it, and with white marker written in cursive letters it read: _I know you add extra tomatoes because I like them. THANK YOU!_

Naruto's eyes read and reread the message over and over again and felt tempted to look at the other, but couldn't do it.

-"Keep on scrolling down"- he heard the other mumble and turned around to see the dark eyes fixed on the screen and then on Naruto's own blue ones: -"What?"- asked Sasuke and the blond couldn't help but notice how he could see the screen on those dark eyes, maybe if he looked close enough he could see himself as well.

-"Nothing…"- answered Naruto and kept on scrolling down.

Half an hour later they were both in their own rooms getting ready for bed.

The minute he saw Sasuke's dark eyes he knew it couldn't possibly be Sasuke's doing; hell, for all he knew it could be for a dog… But still he saved the image on his laptop and turned it off.

A week came and went and so did March.

Sasuke's letter of acceptance had come sometime during the week. They had all been happy about it and had even organized a little outing together, just the three of them to celebrate it. This was when Sasuke had told them he had declined the invitation and decided he wanted to stay here and work with the law firm that he was working with right now.

Secretly Naruto and Sakura had been more than happy about his decision. It didn't matter how you saw it, New York City was far.

And so that night they had celebrated the fact that Sasuke had not left.

Naruto had bought at least a dozen Duff beers for Sasuke; the raven wondered how Naruto had guessed that it was his favorite beer, but decided not to think to much about it. That night the blond had carried a stumbling Sasuke back to their flat and held his hair back as he emptied his stomach for the rest of the night.

He called in sick that day.

Since April was approaching so was the Hanami; it was a tradition among the Japanese community residing in the area to celebrate the Hanami as well.

It's not like they really cared about keeping their traditions and stuff like that, it was just that it gave them an excuse to drink, chat and enjoy them selves. And so they sat at the living room discussing what they were going to do and when; this year it would be the first year Lee – or fuzzy-eyebrow, like Naruto used to call him – would be joining them on the festivities.

It was Sunday afternoon and while the rest of the "family" was busy deciding on the place and date he was busying himself with his own work. Just a few final touches here and there and his master piece will be done for.

He logged into his email account as he stretched.

-"We should definitely do it on the northern part of the park, its closer to my office. That way I could save us a spot"- said Sasuke as he took a swing from his beer, it was a Duff.

-"What do you think Naruto?"- asked Sakura when she noticed him watching them.

-"Sure, that would be fine. I can bring the boost for the night"- added Naruto before returning his attention back to the screen where it said he had 15 messages unread.

He immediately went for the one that said "Update in Share a Secret blog"; apparently the new postcards had been uploaded already. He hadn't thought much about that postcard he had read last weekend, but now, as he opened the webpage, felt a strange anxiety take him over… He found himself thinking of finding another postcard that might say something for him.

-"Are you done yet Naruto?"- asked Sakura as she turned the TV on stretching her legs and placing them on top of Lee's owns.

-"Yeah… I'm just checking something…"- mumbled the other distracted as he urgently went through the postcards looking for one that might look similar to the last one.

-"Mitsuketa!"- exclaimed the blond as he clicked on the image to enlarge it.

-"What did you found?"- asked Sakura venturing a glance at Sasuke who seemed to be to immersed in his own work, but he did lift his eyes to steal a look at Naruto and Sakura didn't fail to notice.

Naruto kept silent as he looked at the postcard; again a simple image, a bottle of Duff, this time placed to the right side of the frame and the plain dark background, with the same white marker and the same style of letter it said: _How did you know I liked Duff so much? THANK YOU! I'm glad I didn't leave you behind._

Sakura noticed how Naruto lifted his eyes and looked at Sasuke with a questioning brow in his features and then turned to Sasuke to see that he was not aware of being looked at by his housemates.

He saved the image and went back to finish his own work.

That night him and Sasuke finished the stack of Duff beer Sasuke had bought for a week, he didn't even complain about it as Naruto drank the last bottle.

Monday came and went.

Naruto finally finished his work; it had been a collection of photographs he took of unsuspecting people while doing what people do when they think no one is looking. He especially loved one in which a men was sending a kiss to the retreating back of a woman.

His thesis advisor had then suggested an exhibition; he had a good friend that had an art gallery and they could manage a few days on there.

Naruto got really excited about it and completely forgot about the postcard that had made such an impact, even if just for one moment, and put all of his attention into forming an exhibition that could mean the launch of his career.

In that week Sakura got to participate on her first open heart surgery, the patient was a woman of 47 and had 2 beautiful daughters waiting for her in the waiting area; the operation lasted hours, but it was a success… and Sakura had been a part of it.

Sasuke had finally finished that case of divorce; it had been way too intense, even for him. The man had cheated on his wife and then she had cheated on him, their only son had been a witness to all of this and he was no older than 10. He talked to the lawyers himself and asked to be given into custody to his grandmother who lived in Wisconsin.

On Saturday night they had had their Hanami in the park.

Naruto had gotten there late because of his project consuming most of his time this week, but he had made it; he would never miss a chance to be with his "family", no matter what other important things came around and he knew the others felt the same.

They told each other about their weeks and Naruto showed them a few of the pictures he had taken.

He was now working on a collection of expressions of people.

Right now he was forming a collage of smiles; he would go around the city in search of unexpecting people smiling at life, love and tears.

Naruto still had to find his favorite one, but he was sure he would very soon.

They drank and ate for several hours; Naruto had made sure to bring an extra stash of Duff's just for Sasuke if only just for the fun to see him getting drunk again.

-"You know what guys? I should take a picture of you smiling!"- said Naruto standing up as if for toasting, bringing his beer with him and looking around the familiar faces in search of approval: -"Well I guess with you I would have to settle with a smirk"- added the blond when his eyes and Sasuke's collided.

-"What makes you think I'll participate in such a thing?"- grumbled Sasuke as he took a bite of his onigiri.

-"Won't you smile for Naruto Sasuke?"- interjected Sakura eyeing them both with a smirk already plastered in her lips.

-"I don't think he can make me smile…"- said Sasuke all trace of a smile now erased from his lips and eyes. This was his way of issuing a challenge to the blond; he was more than sure he was going to take the bait.

-"You are so on bastard!"- exclaimed Naruto as he emptied his beer on one swing.

Sakura let out a "humph" as she rolled her eyes, leave it to her "brothers" to make the night into an all out competition of stubbornness.

The blond spent a great deal of the night trying to get a laugh out of the other male, but didn't even got so much as a smirk; so finally accepting defeat he slumped back down on his spot next to Sasuke accidentally brushing his shoulder with the other male's.

-"Told you dope"- said the other and a barely there smirk could be seen.

-"Well, whatever…"- grunted the blond as he eyed the last tomato filled with tuna that Sakura had made for them. He turned towards Sasuke as if asking his permission and all he got was raised eyebrow from the fair skinned man.

-"Eat it, I don't want it"- answered the raven to the unasked question as he diverted his own eyes from the blond; gathered in the park there was a big number of families and friends gathered for the Hanami this year. Once his group of friend had been bigger, but most of them now lived in other cities, even in other countries, and it was, again, only the three of them… Well, now four.

When Sasuke turned around again he found his plate had been placed in front of him, half of the tuna filled tomato on it. He looked at Naruto with a questioning look, but it was ignored as the blond in one bite swallowed the whole thing.

He eyed his own half; a sakura petal fell on top of the tuna, but that made it even more perfect, that way he could have both "Sakura" and "Naruto" in one bite.

And without even realizing it a full out smile formed itself on his lips and he was unable to control it. No, he didn't want to control it; it was okay, to smile like this at such a small gesture…

A camera flash brought him out of his musings…

-"There! The great Sasuke Uchiha smiled for me!"- exclaimed Naruto as he danced around the raven in what he liked to call his "victory dance".

-"Baka…"- muttered the other angrily as he too swallowed, on one go, his tomato.

-"If all it takes for you to smile at me is niceness I'll do it more often"- joked Naruto as he held out another beer for Sasuke.

The blond then had asked both Sakura and Lee to allow him to take a picture of their smiles.

Naruto had loved how Lee could not help himself from looking at Sakura as she smiled, this provoking a smile on him; if that wasn't love he didn't knew what was.

They had kept going through the pictures; each one of them picked their favorite one, except for Sasuke, who had claimed they were all very boring.

Later that night, as a punishment for one of their drinking games, Naruto had to pick up a bunch of sakura petals and put them in his hair while doing an imitation – a very lousy one by the way – of a ballerina. What people do when drunk…

Sasuke had gotten a picture of it and even gotten a video; he was so sure he was going to upload this on his computer the minute they got home.

Sakura knew then what smile the raven had chosen as his favorite.

The next day Naruto completely forgot about the Share a Secret blog and didn't even think about it for the rest of the following week.

Naruto had gone to see the place where his exhibition was going to be held sometime during the week, Sasuke had agree to accompany him with the condition that his picture would not be part of the exhibition… Naruto had said that even if he didn't approve of it, that smile was a part of the exhibition in Naruto's heart…

At the end Sasuke yielded a little, only a little…

That Friday Lee had come over to their place to have a "Boy's only" night; but when Sakura got home at around 11 that night it became a night of "Forgive us Sakura".

To placate the wrath of an angry Sakura Naruto had agreed to show just them his new collage for the exhibition; this one was about tears.

This one, to everyone's surprise, seemed to get Sasuke's attention as he went through the pictures with a little more care than last time. Naruto briefly wondered why tears would interest the stoic man and thought about questioning him, but when he saw Sasuke's intense stare decided against it, let the man have his secrets to himself.

And when he thought about secrets he idly remembered that blog; he hadn't checked it at all since last Sunday. And he hadn't even once thought about those two postcards he had seen. He would check it that Sunday.

And so Sunday morning came and even though he had decided not to give the issue more importance, first thing he did that morning was turn his laptop on and log into his email. He clicked on the one that read "Update in Share a Secret blog" and immediately checked last weeks update.

But there was no plain dark background and no white marker cursive letters…

Why had he felt so sure he would find something? It was very unlikely for it to be meant for him anyways… But he kept on looking… Maybe in the new updates…

-"Aniki?"- he heard the muffled voice of the occupant on the adjacent room.

He knew Sasuke for not being a morning person, so it was rare to find him awake and willing to engage himself in conversation at the early hour of the morning.

-"Yeah, thank you… No, I didn't… It's okay…"- he heard the other say and then was startled to hear a chuckle; had Sasuke Uchiha just chuckled?

He was unconsciously scrolling down and he tried unfruitful to listen to more of the phone conversation; it was rare that Sasuke's brother – real brother, Naruto found himself thinking in a rather scornful way – would call him, not because they didn't have a good relationship, but because he was constantly traveling and spend most of his time at Maryland.

But then something caught his eye as he heard his name being mentioned in the conversation, but whatever it was they were discussing about him went unheard… he had found it! The third postcard!

It was the now familiar plain dark background and the white marker cursive letter: _Your smile was my favorite smile. THANK YOU FOR SHARING IT WITH ME, _it read. But this time the image was what caught his attention the most, in the left side of the frame was a tuna filled tomato with a lonely sakura petal lying on top of it.

-"Masaka…"- heard himself mumbled as he reread the message over and over again.

This postcard was for him! There was no doubt about it! Who else could it be for! This had been sent by Sasuke, he had no doubt about it anymore!

But as he made his way for the door knob, Sasuke's voice caught his attention.

-"No; why would I take Naruto with me?"- said the raven sounding offended at whatever comment had been made at the other side of the line.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks; what had the other meant by that?

-"I don't want him to come… I just… don't feel comfortable about it…"- he heard the other mumble and his heart sank deep.

His blue eyes inspected the old wooden door of his bedroom; his hand was still holding the door knob…

'How could I even think that…'- thought Naruto as he heard the other say his goodbyes: -'No, it wasn't Sasuke… It wasn't for me…'- and finally let go of the knob.

This postcard he did not save it…

The rest of the day he did not leave his room, even when Sakura had come knocking on his door saying that it would be a good idea to go get some ramen for dinner; the blond had claimed he was busy and didn't even let her in, Sasuke had no better luck.

And so that week came and went.

Naruto hardly left his room when he was at home, but he spent most of his time outside or in lab developing his pictures.

This week he had put himself so much into it that he had completed two collages, one about hands the other about feet. He had forced himself not to think of the blog or of Sasuke or the postcards…

Sometime during the week Sasuke had called him on his cell phone while he was in the dark room, but he didn't answer; later on when asked, he claimed he hadn't heard it, but Sasuke knew better, something was off about Naruto's behavior of lately.

Sunday came and went.

Naruto didn't even bother to check his email that morning and left the place in a hurry; this time he was going to be taking pictures of kisses.

When Sasuke heard the door of Naruto's adjacent room being opened and closed and then the entrance one, he knew the blond had left.

Sakura and the raven waited for Naruto for hours to catch up on a movie or eat something out like the always did when the time arose; but this time Naruto wasn't there. The female had called him and he claimed to be very busy with the photo shooting.

And so Sakura and Sasuke had headed for the movies and then a restaurant; that night Naruto had missed Sasuke laughing and Sakura crying…

The next week started.

The same pattern seemed to be repeating itself again, Naruto avoided being at home and Sasuke and Sakura doing the best they could to try and bring him back from whatever lonely place the blond was heading to, but they seemed to be unsuccessful the first few days.

Friday night Sakura had manage to get Naruto out of his room and talk to her; she text message Sasuke and he said he would be there in a couple minutes.

It had been raining the whole afternoon, well into the first hours of the night; it was already 9 and Sasuke had yet to get home.

Sakura was eyeing the entrance door in a reproachful manner as if the door was to blame for Sasuke's tardiness.

Naruto took notice of the female's weariness and suggested to call the other just to check on him; he was just probably stuck in a traffic jam, it always happens when raining.

But the phone rang and rang and the person on the other end never answered…

Naruto was checking his email for the first time in the whole two weeks that have passed and without holding much hope in his heart he scrolled down looking at the postcards on Share a Secret blog…

And he saw it…

Plain dark background, white marker cursive letter: _Don't leave me, dope… I MISS YOU…_

He could hear a faint ringing sound on the background, but there was nothing more important than this message right now, because when he saw the picture he knew it… it was Sasuke…

A chopped up black and white picture of a crying eye, of Sasuke's dark crying eye, a tear already rolling down his check… It was Sasuke…

-"Naruto! It's Sasuke… he is…!"- half exclaimed, half sobbed Sakura.

Sasuke had had a car accident…


	2. Chapter 2

Well, this is the second chapter.

beta'ed by Divinely Insane Thanx!!!

And I'll also like to dedicate this chapter to Rasengan22 because she's cool! Don't be sad!!!

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?**

When Naruto and Sakura got to the hospital Itachi was already at the door waiting for them. Naruto felt a weird feeling wash over him as he realized that Itachi had been notified first; had Sasuke died, Itachi would have been there and not him…

They went straight to the emergency area and asked for the state of Sasuke Uchiha, but no one would give them an answer. Sakura, having enough of this not knowing, went to the main office to get some answers.

While she was away, Naruto and Itachi sat there in silence.

Naruto knew Itachi didn't feel anything in particular about him or Sakura, but he caught himself wondering if sometimes he too felt jealous about the relationship he and Sasuke shared, like he did about the relationship the two of them shared… He chastised himself at these thoughts; how could he compare himself with Itachi? They were brothers!

-"Itachi Uchiha? You can see your brother now"- called a nurse and Naruto stood up, but kept rooted to his spot as he saw Itachi walk to the swinging doors that led to the beds inside the ER.

Itachi turned around and looked at Naruto questioningly.

-"Don't you want to see him?"- asked Itachi after a few moments.

-"Yeah, but…"- said Naruto and finally took a few steps towards Itachi and the entrance.

At the door a nurse was waiting for Itachi, but when she saw the blond her frown burrowed.

-"Just family sir"- she said extending her hand as if to stop Naruto, but Itachi spoke.

-"He is family"- said the tall stoic male and the woman eyed them both suspiciously as if not believing the statement, and who would, there wouldn't be two people that could look less alike than the two of them.

-"Sorry sir, but in here it says he only has one brother"- said the nurse and made eye contact with the blond, who averted his gaze towards the floor.

-"Well, what if he is his partner?"- said Itachi with that same bored tone.

-"Well… then maybe…"- the nurse was stuttering and Naruto's eyes were glued to the floor. If this could get him to see Sasuke he would take what he could get.

So gathering enough courage, he raised his eyes and met the woman's own and nodded.

She moved aside without saying much more.

Itachi and Naruto's footsteps could be heard through the corridor, and the blond thought it was odd seeing that the place was overflowing with people, but he could hear his own steps echoing.

Soon enough Sakura had caught up to them as they entered the recovery wing.

The moment they entered the room Naruto and Sakura bolted to Sasuke's bed and both of them held his hand.

Itachi watched them exchange a few words with a drugged up Sasuke and an almost-not-there smile appeared in his features…

It took almost all of Sakura's convincing methods to make Naruto leave Sasuke's side that day…

On his way out of the hospital Naruto saw a couple kissing on the entrance door… He had forgotten his camera on the way out, but decided that was his favorite kiss…

The next day Sasuke was moved to a room, Itachi had taken care of the necessary arrangements for it to be a single room. Naruto had been there first thing in the morning.

He stayed with Sasuke for the whole day.

The raven had a few bruises and scratches, they had to do a few stitches on his right eye brow and he had a cast on his left leg, but nothing that couldn't heal with time.

Naruto had made a few jokes about his cast and was the first one to sign it.

He drew a tomato and a sakura petal and wrote a _Thank You_ right next to it. Sasuke didn't say a thing about it and only smirk at the blond.

They talked about everything and nothing for the rest of the day; to amuse the raven Naruto had played a practical joke on the nurses and that almost got him kicked out, but they had laughed so much it had been worth it.

That Sunday Sasuke received many visitors, but Naruto was always a constant one in the room and the raven was thankful for it. Since the first time they had met years ago the raven was known for his social inadequacy, but somehow having Naruto near him made him more approachable.

Sakura had brought home made Onigiri and while she and Lee chatted with the raven Itachi took Naruto outside the room.

-"Sometimes I'm jealous of you two"- said Itachi, his eyes glued to his brother lying on the hospital bed, Sakura and Lee amicably taking with him.

-"You mean Sakura and me?"- asked Naruto no sure where this was headed, his eyes followed Itachi's own until his were also focused on Sasuke: -"Why would you be jealous of us?"- mumbled Naruto as a small smile made itself present on his lips as he saw Sakura's reenactment of her latest cat fight with the head of the nurses.

-"You three are a real family…"- mumbled Itachi and for a moment Naruto thought he had heard sadness in the other male's voice, but maybe it had been his imagination.

-"But you are HIS real family"- said Naruto and his voice had sounded scornful even to himself.

-"Might be, but he called for you when he got here"- Itachi answered back and finally made direct eye contact with the blond.

Naruto's expression was hard to describe, it was a mix between surprise and happiness and something that resembled sadness, but you could never be sure with Naruto.

-"But you are also our brother, ne Aniki?"- said Naruto with one of his infamous grins plastered in his face.

That was the first time Naruto saw Itachi smile.

The beginning of the week Naruto spent it mostly at the hospital, chatting with Sasuke.

On Wednesday he was to be released from the hospital.

-"Are you almost done with your exhibition?"- asked Sasuke as he placed his hospital rope away. He hated that damn thing!

-"Yeah, almost…"- said Naruto munching on some poky while going through his latest pictures: -"It's just that I'm having trouble arranging them"- he mumbled with his eyes focused on his laptop screen.

-"Humph! You are arranging something! Well that's a first!"- said Sasuke mockingly as he made his way to sit at the blonds' side, his head peaking from the side to look at the pictures.

-"Is harder than you think!"- pouted Naruto as he met the playful gaze the other was giving him.

-"Why? Just put them in whatever order"- commented the raven off handedly and turned towards the window, his shoulder brushing Naruto's.

-"No. I need a special one, one that would make the perfect center of each one of the collages…"- said Naruto absentmindedly as he kept going through the pictures.

Sasuke turned towards the blond.

His blue eyes were intently focused on the screen; his right hand was placed on the keyboard while his left one rested on his leg. On the nearest nightstand, Naruto's camera rested.

Sasuke caught himself thinking how tan Naruto's skin was…

-"Just pick one"- said Sasuke as he stood and with the aid of his crutches made it to the nightstand and took the camera turning it on.

-"No! It has to be a special one!"- exclaimed the blond as he finally lifted his gaze from the screen and made eye contact with the other.

-"Fine then…"- muttered Sasuke and making his way back to the bed, and seated himself next to Naruto again.

Naruto turned towards him and their eyes made contact.

-"I'll give you your picture…"- said Sasuke as he averted his gaze and his right hand traveled to Naruto's left one resting on his thigh.

The blond felt as if the world stopped as he saw how Sasuke's marble-like fingers intertwined themselves with his in an odd yet fitting contrast of white and tan color.

And then a flash went off…

-"There's your picture…"- mumbled Sasuke with his eyes still somewhere else as he handed the camera and untangled his fingers from Naruto's grasp.

Indeed, that was the picture he would be using…

Itachi came to pick them up that day and stunningly as it was, Itachi seemed to be oddly chatty.

-"How lucky are you otouto"- said Itachi as he turned on the engine.

-"What do you mean?"-Sasuke answered back, as Naruto helped him buckle up.

-"You won't have to come to the dinner of course"- said the older male as he adjusted the rear view mirror and his and Naruto's eyes briefly clashed.

-"Shut up…"- grunted Sasuke as he adjusted himself in his seat.

The blonds' frown deepened in a questioning fashion and Itachi could see it through the rearview mirror.

-"Didn't you tell Naruto?"- asked Itachi as he made his way to the hospital parking lot exit.

-"Tell me what?"- asked the blond and his head peek over the space in between the two front seats looking for Sasuke's eyes and answer.

-"Our mother came over to have dinner with us"- commented Itachi as he stopped at a corner and then turned left, towards the main street: -"I was hoping that perhaps you could join us, introduce you to mother as the new addition to the family"- added the male and Naruto could see the malicious glint on his eyes.

He had made Itachi promise never to tell Sasuke about what he had to say to the nurses to let him in; but now, as he saw the smirk forming on the older male's lips he questioned himself if it had been such a good idea to make such a deal with a friend of the devil.

Unknown to the blond, Sasuke was casting a similar reproachful glance at his older brother…

-"I mean… after all… you two are like brothers, ne?"- Said Itachi after what felt like an eternity to the other two occupants of the car, but it wasn't more than a minute or two.

-"Yeah… brothers…"- mumbled Sasuke as he and the blond slumped back in their seats not knowing exactly when it had been that they had moved in the first place.

A silence made its presence in the car for a grand total of 5 minutes; not that it was any surprise to the occupants of the car that Naruto was the one to break it, what did come as a surprise was the words he uttered when he spoke.

-"Are you ashamed of introducing me Sasuke?"- asked Naruto and tried with all his might to make it sound so very casual a question… He failed though…

-"Not ashamed of you… More like the other way around"- answered the older male in place of Sasuke.

Naruto was trying to make eye contact with his friend in the front seat, but he seemed far more interested in the outside scenery passing by his window.

The blue eyed one was presented with the back of a raven head; through the reflection in the window glass he could see Sasuke's dark eyes trying to avoid his.

-"He is ashamed of our mother"-Itachi finally mumbled and their apartment building could be seen a few blocks away.

Naruto slumped back on his seat as he contemplated the events that had unfolded themselves to him through these two past weeks and let out a tired sigh; he had not come anywhere near to understand Sasuke, if anything he had found out how little he did know about the man that he considered his best friend… He felt bad about not knowing him enough, about not being there when he needed him, at not understanding the things he did.

-"If Naruto and I are brothers…"- Sasuke started saying as he tilted his head a little towards the back seat, his eyes making contact with the blue ones in the back through the corner of his eye: -"Does that mean I'm your Aniki?"-and a smirk graced his lips.

-"No"- intervened Itachi: -"I'm Aniki, you could be Onisan"- he said as pulled over the entrance of their apartment building, but kept the engine going.

Sasuke seemed to be musing over that thought as a laugh escaped Naruto's lips.

The blond quickly jumped out of the car and opened the front door of the car extending his hand towards Sasuke flashing him a grin.

-"Here Onisan, I'll help you"- said Naruto with a mocking tone and the raven couldn't help the smirk that formed on his lips.

After saying their goodbyes to the older male, they started making their way into the building.

-"You know what? I prefer Onisama. I think it suits me better"- said Sasuke as he allowed Naruto to open the door for him, a malicious glint could be seen in his eyes and the smirk on his lips.

-"I always knew you had a little bit of a dominatrix in you"- argued Naruto as he pushed the button to call the elevator.

-"Well, who wouldn't want to dominate you? You seem so wild"- added the raven as the elevator opened its doors and the two of them stepped inside.

-"You kinky little bastard"- grunted Naruto bumping his shoulder with Sasuke's.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

Their shoulders were still touching when they reached their floor…

The rest of the week Sasuke endlessly prodded the blond to finish his work.

While they had been in the hospital Naruto had manage to take a few photos of pretty cool looking scars and decided to make a collage out of them. He didn't tell the raven that, his own scar, was part of that collage as well, but he guessed what the raven didn't knew couldn't hurt him.

He just needed to complete one more collage, but he had hit bottom.

He could simply not come up with a last idea and so he started freaking out; he would only have one more week before the appointed date of the exhibition and yet he could not finish it. He still had a few more details to arrange on quite a few of the collages and he didn't feel quite comfortable letting them be.

-"You think too much about it"- commented Sasuke offhandedly as he poked his head through Naruto's left shoulder to see what the blond was working on.

-"It's just that I can't think of anything to do the last collage on…"- mumbled the blond and Sasuke found himself mesmerized by the look of concentration Naruto had in his baby blue eyes, he always seems to be so immature, so irresponsible, so unaffected by the things happening around him, but now, as he saw him so absorb in his work he could only think of how very little he did know about the blond.

-"You should do the last one about words"- whispered the raven not very sure why he was whispering, maybe it had to do with the fact that his lips were so very close to Naruto's ear.

-"I don't know…"- answered the blond suppressing a shiver and trying with all his might to sound like he was not affected by the close proximity of Sasuke's body.

Naruto was going through the pictures he had and Sasuke noticed one of himself.

-"Hey! When did you take that one?"- asked the raven upset at having a picture of his feet taken without his permission.

Naruto cringed at the loudness of the voice, Sasuke had not moved an inch and so had yelled in his ear; he felt his heart rate increase a little and wondered if it had to do with the fear caused by the other's anger or if it was due to other unknown reasons.

-"I couldn't help it"- said Naruto slightly turning towards the raven… Sasuke's lips were so close to his: -"You have such pretty feet"- mumbled Naruto as he observed the other's lips seeking for his answer.

-"You are a pervert…"- mumbled the other and his hand rested on Naruto's right shoulder.

-"Don't we all have a kinky little bastard inside of us?"- snickered the blond and noticed how dark eyes seem to drift to his lips.

-"So you are passive. I always wonder…"-whispered Sasuke again, forgetting he was making a joke at the others expenses as he realized the closeness – and why was he whispering again? Oh yeah… the closeness… - and the blond felt the raven's breath gusting over his own lips; Naruto briefly wondered why was Sasuke still so close to him, why was he whispering, and Why, Oh Why! Was he not moving or pushing the raven away.

They were closing the distance separating their lips and they knew it, but somehow were unable to stop themselves and they wouldn't have stopped if it had not been for the sound of the front door being opened and closed.

-"Hello guys!"-called Sakura as she entered the dining room area.

There was something off about the scene. Naruto was on the other side of the room, looking out the window seemingly flustered, Sasuke was leaning against the nearest wall, his crutches lying on the floor and his eyes glued to the floor.

The female inspected both of them.

-"Did you guys fight? Naruto you should know better than to fight a man in crutches!"- said Sakura and she made her way to Sasuke and helped him get his crotches from the floor.

-"We weren't fighting Sakura…"- mumbled the raven as he took the item and made his way to his room trying with all his might to not look at Naruto… But he failed.

Something nagged at the inside of his body and made him turn, at the exact same moment Naruto had and when their gazes collided it all went still for the briefest of seconds and then… it was gone.

The rest of the day both males avoided each other…

The next week started and Naruto found himself feeling a nervous breakdown approaching.

In the mornings he would take his breakfast and eat it back inside his room; he argued it was because he needed to work really hard on his exhibition, but in all honesty; he was avoiding being in the same room as the raven more than he needed to.

Sasuke was doing the same…

He had called Itachi sometime during Tuesday evening and he had his older brother come pick him up and he hadn't come back until around 10 at night; the same thing happened the next two days.

Now, is not like Naruto was jealous or anything of the sort, he was just concerned for Sasuke's well being… yeah, sure, that was it…

So Thursday caught up to him and he still had to find a new inspiration and have done it before Sunday afternoon or he would lose the opportunity of a lifetime.

But somehow had been unable to think of any other thing that wasn't the raven…

Now, he had questioned his sexual preferences a few times in his life, and had come to the conclusion that he was just a little too horny to be considered normal, but what man isn't a horny animal… Maybe he had felt a little attracted to Sasuke at some point, but he had felt attracted to Sakura too so… maybe it was normal to feel some kind of physical attraction towards the people you live with… or maybe he was just trying to justify a behavior that had no other justification but mere physical attraction.

But that was a scary thought… Being in love with the raven would mean complications… WAIT!!! Who said LOVE?!? No! He was not in love with the stoic man!

He heard a knock on the front door that brought him out of his dangerous musings.

When he opened the door he was surprised to see one of Sasuke's coworkers at the entrance.

-"Good evening, is Uchiha home?"- asked the male very properly with the same rigid expression he had come to associate with his housemate.

-"No, he's not. Do you want to leave him a message or do you want come in and wait for him? I don't think he'll be long"- answered Naruto unsure as to why he felt at ease with this man, maybe because he reminded him of the raven.

-"I'll wait. Thank you"- said the other and entered the house following Naruto to the living room area where he was currently going through his photos, yet again, in search of a miraculous inspiration to hit him and get him out of the block.

-"Can I offer you something to drink?"-the blond asked politely to the other male, who answered with a curt shake of his head.

Naruto seated himself way away from the other and somehow felt compelled to make eye contact.

-"So you are the famous housemate? Naruto is it?"- asked the other when he noticed the blonds' attention was on him.

-"Yeah… How do you know?"- asked Naruto as he eyed the other male suspiciously.

-"Uchiha is not very talkative, but when it comes to you, he talks his soul out"- said the other smirking in a way that made Naruto feel as if the other knew something he didn't.

-"He talks about me?"- asked the blond surprised at the statement.

-"Yeah. So much that I feel like I already know you"-commented the other as he eyed the clock on the wall: -"I think I better leave, but could I leave some papers with you?"- he asked standing up.

-"Sure…"- answered Naruto standing up after the man.

-"Well, we got a case of lawsuit on a company so I wanted to bring some of the files over so he could check them and see what he thinks about it"- said the other as he browsed through his briefcase and extracted a few folders and extended them to the blond.

-"I'll let him know"- said Naruto taking the folders from the man.

-"Thanks. I really appreciate it"- said the other as he made his way towards the door.

-"Wait! What's your name?"- asked the blond when he realized this other man seemed to know a lot about him and he didn't even knew his name.

-"Neji. Good Night… Oh, and good luck with your exhibition"- and with that the other man was gone, leaving behind a stunned Naruto.

Many thoughts went through his mind the rest of the night; he didn't even bother pretending he was trying to find inspiration in a place where he knew he was not going to find it and so he sat in his living room watching the shadows cast around and very slowly darkness took over.

When he saw the clock hands showing it was nearing midnight he decided to leave for his own room, even if just to be more comfortable.

But when he got there, darkness also reigning in his room, he heard the lock of the front door being opened and a few hushed voices.

-"I'll think he'll appreciate it"- murmured one of the voices and Naruto couldn't discern whose it was, but he could tell it was a male.

Light filtered through the crack on his wooden door and he could hear the thumping sound of crutches on the living room area.

-"Well… Who know? He's a little complicated… Sometimes I feel like I don't know him…"- whispered the other voice and he immediately recognized it as Sasuke's.

-"You're doing all this for him; I'm pretty sure he'll appreciate it"- answered back the other voice and then the blond heard footsteps making their way back to the entrance: -"You'll give it to him tomorrow or you'll wake him up?"- asked the voice this time sounding fainter.

-"I…"- said Sasuke and Naruto could sense the hesitation underlying in his tone: -"Don't know… I'll just…"- and then a long silence followed by the door being opened and then closed.

Again the muffled sound of steps and thumping came back and made its way in front of Naruto's room.

He could see the shadow of Sasuke's form standing outside the door in the light that filtered through the bottom and Naruto found himself mesmerized by it.

It was in this moment that he realized he had not really seen or spoken to the raven in days and he suddenly felt this pulsing need to miss him, but was afraid of the feelings and sensations it brought with it, and so he pushed it back down…

But he knew it was bound to come back at some point and bite him in the ass…

He wondered if the raven was going to knock on his door or if he would just walk back to his room, and close the door until the next morning.

The blond could almost see Sasuke standing at his door, hesitantly looking at the doorknob in front of him, wondering to himself if he should open or not. And then he saw the shadow shift a little and turn around, that's what triggered his next move.

Without knowing how or when, he was now standing at the doorway seeing the retreating form of the raven.

-"Wait!"-said Naruto and it sounded too loud and needy for his liking, but when his and Sasuke's eyes collided he forgot all about it.

The emotions that were flickering through the fair skinned face were hard to describe and sort out, it went from confusion to surprise, to anger and then happiness and then… Naruto wondered if he had that same indescribable expression on his features.

-"I…"- mumbled the blonde and then his mind went blank… He… what?

There were a million things he wanted to ask the raven; like where had he been?, how was his leg?, had he gone on working these few days that they had not seen each other? who was the person that he had came in with?… why had he not stopped or pushed the blond away when they had almost kissed a few days ago…?

But he asked none… he felt contempt with just watching all those raging emotions crossing through his pale face. He liked it, the normally devoid-of-all-emotion features was flaring with such beautiful intensity.

And then it was gone…

Sasuke schooled his expression to his customary stoic one and averted his gaze towards his own bedroom door a few steps to his right.

Naruto found himself feeling lonely and sad when Sasuke's charcoal dark eyes left his.

-"Neji, your coworker came over"- stated Naruto noticing for the first time the digital camera Sasuke was holding in his left hand: -"He left something for you"- mumbled the blond as his eyes traveled through Sasuke's body, in search of other details he might have missed: -"Something about a lawsuit or something of the sort"-he finished and looked at Sasuke's face in search of an answer he didn't get.

-"Oh… thanks"-murmured the other and his temple seemed to loosen up a little.

-"They're over there in the coffee table"- said Naruto and took a step towards it, but soon regretted it when the other tensed up again.

Sasuke was fidgeting with the strap of the camera on his left hand, his eyes still looking somewhere else but the blond in front of him.

-"I…"- started the raven, but then his lips closed up in a thin line.

-"You…?"- asked Naruto hesitantly and wanted to take another step towards the other male, but stopped himself in fear of him moving further away.

-"I… Well me and Itachi… well, we…"- Sasuke was stumbling with the words and as much as Naruto wanted to laugh at it, he just couldn't, he had never seen the raven show that side of him, and so he decided to cherish this moment.

The raven was having trouble organizing his ideas, it had been a long day and he had not expected to see the blond so soon and certainly he had not planned on tell him about what he had been doing these past days.

But as the blue eyed man kept his silence, urging him to talk, he decided that he would tell the blond what he had wanted to, even if it was the last thing he did… But damned be his pathetic communicative skills!

-"Yeah, so we… Me and Itachi…"-this was proving to be more difficult; why had nobody taught him how to manage emotions? Stupid humans and their emotions…

-"As articulate as ever Sasuke-kun"-the blond commented mockingly with a self sufficient smirk plastered on his lips.

-"Moron"- mumbled the raven and the air in the room changed, lifting the tension up.

Naruto felt this intriguing strong pulsing need to take another step that would bring him closer to the other male; he didn't necessarily understood it, but it felt good, kinda like a tingle going through his body, making him yearn for the proximity.

They both smirked at each other not knowing why they felt like accomplices of an unperpetrated crime, but not really caring at the moment.

-"Here"- said Sasuke finally closing the distance between the two, handing Naruto the camera he was holding, and this somehow made them both feel so… happy? It sounded so foolish and childish to feel happy at such a thing, but it was hard to describe the feeling.

-"What is it?"- asked the tanned man as he turned the camera on.

-"We took some photos and… well, you could use them for one of your collages for the exhibition"- mumbled Sasuke again averting his gaze.

The first picture that appeared in the screen camera was one in which there seemed to be a man holding a sign which read: _I hate my job_.

Now Naruto was known for his minimal abilities at noticing details, but he somehow recognized the briefcase lying next to the man's right leg as the one "Neji" had brought in with him that evening. And although he could not see the man's face, he was almost sure that behind that big sign, he would be finding the same man that had seated himself in his living room.

The next pictures were pretty similar, in each you could see a different body part showing, but none of them showed their owners face, and Naruto could easily figure out why.

These were secrets people were sharing through the words written in those big signs.

When Naruto lifted his gaze he was surprised to find black questioning eyes resting on him, but when the owner noticed he had been caught red handed, he averted his gaze again.

-"Wow! Sasuke, these are great! Who knew you were so artistic! Thank you! Really, you practically saved my ass!"- exclaimed the blond with a grin adorning his lips.

-"Well I do need that ASS"- commented Sasuke offhandedly, but didn't realize the implication of what he had said until it reached his own ears.

-"If you so badly want my ass all you have to do is ask"-said Naruto as a joke, but he somehow felt that his tone sounded a little too serious when he had said it.

Sasuke's eyes turned towards blue ones and for a moment Naruto thought the raven was really going to ask FOR IT… And his heart skipped a few beats, but he wasn't sure why.

-"Maybe one day…"- mumbled the raven mostly to himself and Naruto was very sure it wasn't a comment meant for him to hear, but he did; however, he decided not to comment on it.

-"Go to bed, you look kind of tired"- said the blond after a moment and looked at the door standing next to his own and, for unknown reasons, hating it a little.

-"You're one to talk"- commented the other as he started making his way to his own room; when he finally reached the door knob he turned to the blond and said: -" I specially liked the picture number 94"- and just like that his door was closed.

When Naruto was preparing himself to go to sleep he searched through the pictures until he reached the number 94.

It was a sign that read: _I wanted to kiss you… _

Holding the sign Naruto could see Sasuke's hand as the only visible body part…


	3. Chapter 3

Ahhh I didn't put a note when I first posted this, but now here it is! hehehe

Again a big thank you to **Divinely Insane** for betaing my fic!!

Well here it is my third chapter! I think the rating might go up a little bit, but we'll se with some passing time hehehe

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡**

It was finally Saturday night and he had never felt more nervous in his entire life.

He was now facing the irrevocable path into becoming what he had always dreamt of.

And all he kept thinking of was that he didn't want to; he could live on being who he was right now. But as the spacious art gallery filled in with people smiling and congratulating him about his work, he saw the unstoppable approach of something he could not run away from anymore.

Music was faintly playing as a background, but the humming sound of people conversing was louder and so the notes and lyrics got mixed in with the chatting sounds.

Naruto could hear a "…I really like this place, is…" blending in with lyrics of _"…Tsuki no hikari de taitei no koto ha utsukushiku mieru kara..." (1)_ and a guitar playing as background. If other's had been in this situation, he would be enjoying this, but as it was, he could only think of the eyes inspecting his work intently.

-"You okay?"- asked someone from behind and Naruto turned to find a glass of wine being extended to him: -"You look tense"- added the owner of said voice and a small almost-not-there smile graced his lips.

-"I am tense"- mumbled the blond as he took the offered wine and downed it in one go.

-"It'll be okay"- the other answered back as he too took a sip of his own glass.

-"Thanks Sasuke"- mumbled Naruto looking at a couple inspecting his collage on kisses.

The raven followed his eyes until they found what he was looking at, the couple having already moved as a group of friends made their way in front of it.

-"Why did you leave a space in the middle of it?"- asked Sasuke as he took yet another sip of his wine. Thank God Sakura had offered her help with the organization; otherwise there would be drinking, maybe vodka, or worse, tequila…

-"I didn't find it…"- murmured the blue eyed man in hope of the other not listening, but the raven did listen…

-"The perfect kiss you mean? You didn't find it?"- asked Sasuke and his eyes were glued to the floor even when Naruto searched for them.

-"Yeah… I did look though… but, I guess it just didn't happen…"- said Naruto and his blue eyes searched any change of expression in the marble-like features of the other male, but when he found none he averted his gaze somewhere else and briefly wondered why he had been looking for it in the first place.

-"Yeah… maybe if you wait a little longer it'll happen…"- whispered Sasuke and his dark eyes, very subtly, looked at the blond through the corner of his eyes.

The rest of the night Naruto was besieged by a bunch of complete strangers asking him about his work, what had he been thinking when taking a certain picture, where had he gotten his inspiration from… And so he had failed to notice dark eyes following him around the room.

-"When will you tell him?"- asked the female as she approached the lonely raven observing his housemate being dragged around by a woman much too tactless to Sasuke's taste.

-"Tell him what?"- asked Sasuke, turning towards Sakura's emerald green eyes twinkling with mischievousness.

-"Play dumb then, it fits you just fine"- commented the female offhandedly as her eyes followed Naruto being dragged to his next collage: -"Have you seen the last collage? The one you "helped" him make?"- She asked and placed her empty glass on one of the near by tables.

-"No"- was the curt response the raven gave her and Sakura could easily tell he was trying to take importance out of her question, when in reality he cared a lot.

-"So I guess you haven't seen the PICTURES he set in the middle of it"- she said and then as swiftly as she had come, left to catch up to Lee, who was currently looking at some of the pictures of the scars collage Naruto had made while at the hospital.

Sasuke looked to the farthest northern area of the room; most of the crowd was gathered around Naruto while they listened to the blond give his explanation on one of the collages, which one was it, Sasuke could not tell from where he was standing.

As he strolled leisurely, well as leisurely as a man on crutches can stroll – definitely not going in the direction of the collage Sakura had commented, if so, it just so happened to be on his strolling path –, he wondered why had the female put such emphasis in the word PICTURES and what would the pictures be, as in plural, if Naruto only placed one as the center; but when he came to stand in front of said photos, he understood why.

Two pictures: one he recognized as his own, where the sign read: _"I wanted to kiss you…"_ and right next to it you could see a tan hand holding a sign that read: _"I wanted to kiss you… too…"_

Faint music could be hear on the background; the group, on the complete opposite direction, busted into laughter at, very likely, a funny remark made by the blond photographer; not very far from where he was standing a couple was sharing a very passionate kiss; and far off in the distance a crashing sound was heard… But to Sasuke's senses there was nothing else, but this picture right in front of him… just this moment, just for today… maybe tomorrow he could go back to being the selfish bastard he was known as, tomorrow he would go back to make fun of Naruto, tomorrow he would go back to his almost-not-there smirks… But right now, right now, he was going to smile to his heart's content… He too…

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura left for their place at around 3 in the morning, after everyone had finally left and they had manage to pick up some of the mess people had left.

-"Thanks guys for being there"- slurred Naruto as he tried to reach for Sasuke's shoulder, but ended up somehow grabbing his waist: -"You are so thin… such thin waist…"- mumbled the blond as he squished a little too hard on Sasuke's hip bone.

-"Naruto"- grunted the other, but he wasn't sure if it was an annoyed grunt or some other kind of grunt as tan hands decided, on their own, to travel onto southern more sensitive regions of Sasuke's anatomy.

-"He's really funny when drunk!"-commented Sakura as the blond started nuzzling his face at the raven's side.

-"Yeah, is rare for him not to… hold… his liquor…"- Sasuke manage to said, but further opinions of him were silenced as Naruto's left hand brushed on the raven's groin.

-"Now, now Naruto, be a good boy. You're going to make Sasuke cum all over himself"- chanted Sakura and reached for the blond to get him in a most upright position.

Said female was carrying Sasuke's other crutch, as he had given it to her in favor of helping a stumbling Naruto all the way to their apartment, but it wasn't an easy task.

The comment got her a pointed deadly look from the referred Uchiha, but just making the comment had been so worth it, besides she had quite develop an immunity to those sort of glares.

-"I had seen him drunk once before"- commented Sakura after she placed one of the blonds' arms around Sasuke's neck: -"One time, when we went to Kiba's birthday party and you didn't want to go"- and she let herself smile at the memory of it: -"You know? You could ask him anything right now, he's one of those true-teller drunks"- and as she said this their apartment building came into vision.

-"There's no need for that, he's already quite honest about himself"- said the raven as he tried to readjust the weight of the blond he was carrying: -"He shouldn't have accepted all of those drinks"-He commented as he eyed the stumbling male, alcohol glazed blue eyes looked at him and then to Sakura.

-"Yeah, but that's his personality. He can never say no"- answered back the female and pushed the entrance door open and held it for the raven, carrying Naruto.

-"Yeah, he can't. But that's why we're here right now, ne?"- said Sasuke as he pushed the button to call for their elevator and tried to readjust his crutch, but failed… Those damn things! He'd get rid of them if he could.

-"Yeah, he can never say no…"-commented Sakura lost on memories of her own, memories of a past that would hurt her forever, but she had heavens to thank for the presence of these two in her life, because in case her nightmares caught up to her she could always turn to Sasuke and Naruto and let them be her anchors.

The ding of the elevator woke the three of them up from their own dazes and so they stumble inside with a drunken Naruto clinging to both of them.

Once they were in the elevator, Sasuke made sure to place Naruto against one of the lift's walls, but the blond kept on clinging to him for dear life giggling and mumbling unintelligible stuff about pictures? Words? And… but when Sasuke tried to lean towards the blond to listen to his incomprehensible monologue, he notice Sakura's green eyes on him, and so he moved away.

-"Now, now, Sasuke-kun there's no need to be shy. After all we are family, ne?"- commented the female slyly with a smirk on her red painted lips.

Silence settle as Sasuke decided not to say anything about the comment.

Naruto was snuggling against the raven's chest and Sasuke was able to catch only snips of his grunting, something that sounded like "Atatakai" and then "I like… _mumble, mumble_… he's so soft… _mumble, mumble_… he smells good…" reached Sasuke's ears, but this time he did not try to listen into the alcohol induce soliloquy, but only allowed himself to enjoy the warmness that was Naruto's embrace.

It took him a little while to notice the look Sakura was giving them.

It wasn't a look of fan-girlism or one of mockery; it was actually quite comforting to see her, she seemed to be so content, so serene, almost as if watching her two precious sons taking a peaceful nap after a long day.

The raven directed his eyes towards the electronic screen; they still had 10 more floors to go.

-"When did you notice?"- asked the raven as quietly as he could so as not to startled the woman, but also in hopes of not being heard and not have this conversation that he knew he could not avoid forever.

Sakura's eyes widened only slightly at the question, but other than that her serene expression didn't change one bit.

-"At my birthday party"- she stated and then noticed Naruto smile and mumble something against Sasuke's chest: -"When did you?"- She asked and finally made eye contact with dark eyes.

-"I guess about the same time…"- answered the raven letting that ever mysterious aura he possessed, surround them.

She was about to ask how, why, and all those questions she had saved for when Sasuke grew some balls and finally said it, but noticed a purring noise coming from the blond.

-"Is he purring?"- asked Sakura eying the blond more intently in search of something wrong.

-"Yes"- answered the raven and rolled his eyes not sure if he was annoyed by the blonds' antics or if the sound was making weird things happen to his stomach, - "He does that when he's drunk… he claims he's a cat"- said Sasuke and then half lidded blue eyes made contact with his.

-"Sasuuuuke… I'm a caaat...!"- Exclaimed the blond and purred some more: -"Nya nya! Neko-chan! 'm a japaaanesse neko! Nya nya!!!"(2)- He said in between giggles and then started rubbing himself against Sasuke.

-"Neko? Nya nya? Is this the little perverted things you do when I'm not home?"- asked Sakura and again that mischievous glint appeared in her eyes.

-"Shut up!"- deadpanned Sasuke and the woman was saved from further hurt when the doors opened finally having reached the 23th floor.

-"Here Naruto"- said Sakura amused: -"What did I tell you about making Sasuke cum in his pants?"- asked the female and tried to pull the blond out, with little success.

Naruto only backed into the corner and hissed – more like tried – like a cat at the woman's efforts.

-"Sasuke help me!"- pouted the female looking at the smirking raven and then at the hissing blond.

-"Okay, okay"- said Sasuke after gloating a little at Sakura's failed attempts.

He stood at the elevator door looking at Naruto's blue eyes, the hissing stopped and the "Nya nya" restarted. Sasuke caught himself staring too intently into deep blue eyes.

-"Come here kitty, kitty"- said the raven bending a little while still holding his crutch.

At this, the blond crawled on all fours in the general direction of Sasuke, still stumbling and swaying a little. Sasuke backed towards their apartment entrance.

-"I should take a picture of this!"- exclaimed Sakura when she saw Naruto on all fours walking towards the raven: -"Who knew you two were so kinky!"- She giggled and went for the door to open it for the three of them.

-"Shut up! You have some dirty laundry I could expose on you too"- said the raven this time sounding a little more angry.

Sakura eyed them both as a very drunk Naruto crawled towards Sasuke tumbling with his four legs.

-"How did you know you had to do that?"- asked the woman, curiosity getting the better of her.

-"He did the same at your party"- commented Sasuke absentmindedly as Naruto finally caught up to him and climbed on the sofa Sasuke had managed to sit on.

-"Is he actually gonna lay on…"- but Sakura didn't got to finish her question as she saw the blond do the exact same thing she was about to ask.

Now Naruto was no lithe fluffy little cat, no, he was a big man. He wasn't fat, but he wasn't quite light, he did have some muscle in him and he did exercise, but damn! Was the little bastard heavy!

-"Are you gonna allow it?"- asked Sakura almost not believing her eyes; Naruto was now curled on Sasuke's lap, purring and nya-nying to his life content: -"Why do I even ask, of course you are gonna allow it! You want it! It makes me wonder if YOU put something on his drink to get him this way… Oh you kinky little devil!"- said Sakura chancing a small pat on the raven's head, but received one of the infamous Glares of Death, from the Uchiha®.

-"Go make some coffee to sober him up!"- Commanded Uchiha and Sakura ran – yes, she ran, in her own house… because Sasuke is that scary – to the kitchen to get the beverage.

Sasuke sighed a sigh that was a mix between tiredness and frustration and… _groan_… Yeah, Naruto and his devious little attempts at being a cat.

Sasuke looked down on his lap to find blue eyes already inspecting him.

-"Ano ne, Sasuke? Neko makes nya nyaaaa…"- slurred the blond and grinned with satisfaction: -"Am I your neko?"- asked Naruto and all of the sudden his tone sounded serious and a little sober, but if not for the light swaying and the fact that blue eyes were unfocused, Sasuke would have thought the question to be just as serious as it had sounded.

-"Yes Naruto, you are my neko"- answered the raven and watched as the other happily purred in his lap and did another series of nya nya's.

But the innocent happy watching stopped when the blond decided he wanted to purr in Sasuke's neck and then his ear.

-"Neko ga suki desuka?"(3)- asked the blond slurring the words, but his Japanese accent was quite good and Sasuke briefly wondered if Naruto had been practicing lately.

-"Yeah, I like… _nghh_… Naruto"- answered Sasuke, but at the exact same time he was speaking the blond had decided he wanted to lick Sasuke's left ear, quite a sensitive area of his anatomy.

-"Nya nya?"-asked Naruto and the raven felt rather stupid at the fact that he just thought of those stupid onomatopoeias as a question.

As the fair skinned man was about to tell the other male to just stay still, a very "innocent" hand found its way right next to Sasuke's family jewels. Naruto pushed himself to something that resembled a sitting position on the raven's lap.

-"Boooku waaa Sasuke ga daiiiisukiiii!"(4)- exclaimed the blue eyed male stumbling with his own words, but keeping eye contact with the raven, or as much eye contact as he could manage.

-"Why aren't you sober?"- asked Sasuke, but not really to the blond, because he knew he wouldn't answer him, but he voiced the question nonetheless.

-"Wouldn't you wish that"- Sakura entered the room with a pot of coffee and three mugs: -"Here Kitty, have some coffee"- said speaking to the blond as he eyed the mug disdainfully.

-"It's milk"- murmured Sasuke to the blond and that had him leaping to the coffee table where the mugs had been placed.

Naruto started slurping the coffee the same way a dog, or in this case a cat, would do it.

-"Watch it honey, you're gonna scald your tongue"- warned Sakura, but she only received a "nya nya" and a pout so she let it be.

The raven sighed again letting his head rest on the back of the sofa while he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in a pitiful attempt at calming himself.

Sakura placed another mug in front of Sasuke.

-"Drink some too, it'll help you"- she said while observing Naruto and then back to Sasuke's tired features.

When Sasuke came back from whatever place Uchihas go to calm themselves, he looked somehow more tired, more sad and more lonely than he had ever looked, or so thought Sakura as she watched the raven stand from the couch, and grabbing his crutch, made his way to the dining room window; the untouched coffee mug still on the living room coffee table.

For a couple minutes the only thing that could be heard was the slurping sounds Naruto made while "drinking" his coffee.

-"Say Naruto, why don't you go cheer him up?"- commented Sakura to the drunk man in the floor and with her head she pointed to the window Sasuke was looking through.

To this the blond answered with a "nya nya", yet again, and made his way, still in all fours, over to the raven by the window.

When the drunk man finally reached his destination he purred some more and rubbed himself against Sasuke's legs.

-"Stop that Naruto"- said the raven, his voice sounding somehow sad and tired: -"Here, let's get you to your room"- and he extended his hand to Naruto who took it without hesitation and clumsily stood up with the help of the other. Sasuke led the way to the blonds' room while the other pouted and nya nya'ed some more.

-"I'm not sleepy"- said Naruto as he and the other male entered his dark room. Sasuke turned on the night lamp guessing the other light would be too much for Naruto right now.

The fair skinned man struggled some more with the intoxicated male while trying to convince him that "cats too needed to go to bed at some point". Sakura watched amused by the interaction, until Sasuke looked at her with a warning look.

-"Is just too funny!"- She commented and pointed to the blond with her head while said blond was having a fight with his shirt.

-"Help me! After all I'm a cripple"- said Sasuke as he made his way to an almost shirtless Naruto, muffled noises could be heard from behind the not-all-the-way pulled off shirt.

-"And stop all the fun! Never!"- giggled the woman, but made her way towards the two males and helped Sasuke with the struggling blond.

When Naruto had finally disposed of his clothing, now came the hard task of putting some on; and it was proving to be far more difficult, since he seemed to have gone back to being a cat and decided that cats did not need clothing, thus he, A CAT, didn't need any.

-"Just leave it. He can sleep in his boxers"- said Sasuke as he seated himself on Naruto's bed.

-"Yeah, and you can sleep with him and when he wakes up and finds himself in boxers… hahahaha, that would be so much fun!"- commented the woman in between giggles.

Dark eyes were busy traveling over an exposed tan body curled up in a ball in the middle of the room, still purring and nya nying every once in a while.

-"Help me get him to bed and call it a night… or more like a day"- said Sasuke as he eyed the alarm clock on Naruto's night stand, the glowing green numbers informing him that it was way past a decent hour to be doing this sort of babysitting of his "brother".

Finally they managed to get the blond in the bed and left him to his luck after a whole five minutes elapsed and he fell asleep right on the spot.

Sasuke and Sakura finally let a sigh of tiredness leave their lips when they closed the door to Naruto's room.

-"How can he keep up with the act for so long?"- asked Sakura stretching a little and cracking a few of her back bones.

-"Well, he's an art major after all"- commented the raven as he too, cracked his neck a few times.

-"I still think it would have been fun if you two woke up in the same bed with just boxers on"- commented the female amused at the idea while making her way to her bedroom.

-"Maybe, if you are good, one day you'll see it"- answered back Sasuke feeling a little carefree at the moment and so allowing the statement to leave the confinements of his mind.

"Oh I do hope so!"- she added, and flashing the other a grin, closed her door while yelling a "Good night" through her closed door.

When he reached his own door and grabbed his door handle he stopped and looked towards Naruto's door and when he saw his again felt like he hated doors a little.

The next morning, at around 10 am, Sasuke was woken up by a blasting of music on the room next to his and a yell from the female occupant of the apartment.

-"Naruto! Turn that thing off! Damn it with you! Aren't you supposed to have a hang over or something?!"- shrieked the voice of Sakura through the living room area reaching Sasuke's ears just as a muffled sound.

-"But I'm not!"- exclaimed the blond and then the music was tuned down a little: -"I just got a little tipsy"- came the reply and Sasuke smirked at the statement.

-"Tipsy is a little bit of an understatement. You were shit-faced!"- and there she went again with the yelling – What is it with woman and their yelling? Men are not deaf, just a little stupid – and the banging, preventing Sasuke to further his attempts at getting back to sleep:- "Do you even know what you were doing last night? You behaved like a complete…"- but further than this, the raven could not hear; he just heard a muffled _shhhhh_ on the other side of the room and then some whispering.

Now, he was definitely not eavesdropping, they just happen to be too loud on the next room.

He gathered some snippets of the conversation: _"Did he get mad?"_ and _"Did I really?"_ and then the female interjecting with a fit of giggles and a _"It was so funny"_ and _"Here kitty, kitty"_ followed by yet another fit of giggles.

Sasuke's ear was now glued to the wall adjacent to the other room listening too intently for it to be considered just an overhearing of the conversation.

-"Do you think he's awake?"- murmured the male on the next room.

-"I don't know, I guess no; otherwise he would be here bitching about your music and stuff, my guess is he's sleeping like a log"- commented Sakura and the springs of a mattress could be heard and then footsteps: -"You should apologize to him"- she said and Sasuke could tell she was already by the room's door frame.

-"yeah… I will… when he wakes up…"- answered Naruto and again the sound of a springs' mattress could be heard, and then the blonds' voice moved farther from the bed, somewhere near the window: -"You know how cranky he gets in the mornings"- came the playful comment that got yet another giggle from the woman.

-"Yeah, we know!"- she said and then her foot steps could be heard walking away towards the kitchen area and the door being closed soon right after.

Sasuke felt slightly offended at been thought of as bitchy in the mornings, certainly he was not quite the morning person, but he wasn't bitchy… was he?

Naruto tuned the music up, but just barely, and Sasuke wondered if he was trying to be quiet so as not to wake him up… Well, a little too late for that…

The raven heard the first notes of a guitar filtering in. It was one of his favorite songs; Naruto had learned how to play it a few months ago and he had listened to the song quite a lot.

The fair skinned man sighed and let his forehead touch the coolness of the wall and he found himself staring too intently at the weird patterns in the walls as he inattentively listened to the shuffling in the room next to his.

He was starting to doze off as the guitar and lyrics were reaching the ending part, when the song came to a stop and a new guitar intro started and a masculine, very well tuned voice echoed through the walls.

_Kaa-san doushite  
Sodateta mono made  
Jibun de kowasa nakya nara nai hi ga kuru no? __(5)_

Sasuke recognized immediately as one of Naruto's personal favorites. It was originally singed by a female, but Naruto had fallen in love with the lyrics and adapted it to his voice.

Hinata, Naruto's first girlfriend in high school, had learned the song and usually sang for him… Sasuke wondered if the blond was singing this specific song because he was missing her.

_Barabara ni natta KORAAJU  
Suterare nai no wa  
Nanimo tsunage nai te  
Kimi no te tsunaida toki datte..._

The raven smirked at the fitting of the words… Indeed a collage had started it… and Sasuke tried to speculate if it was going to end in a collage as well.

_Be my last... be my last...  
Be my last... be my last...  
Douka kimi ga be my last..._

As Sasuke heard the blonds' voice play with the notes and his sultry voice cried out in a mournful manner at the end of the chorus. The raven again reflected in what kind of emotions were washing over the blond at the moment for him to want to sing this specific song.

_Nare nai doushi de yoku ganbatta ne  
Machigatta koi wo shita kedo  
Machigai dewa nakatta_

Naruto's voice came up and down at all the right moments as if the song was a rollercoaster of emotions. The raven wanted to evoke that image of the first time he had heard him sing this song, at Hinata's birthday party, while looking at her with loving caring blue eyes.

_Nanimo tsukame nai te  
Yumemiteta no wa doko made?_

Indeed… How far could this dream go? Was he just fooling himself with emotions he could not even comprehend and was just so eager to name them and give them a receiver?

Naruto's wailings brought him back from that sad and lonely place to where he always went when he felt fear and doubt; somehow Naruto always evoke braveness and security on him.

_With my hands With my hands  
With my hands With my hands  
Watashi no te de be my last..._

The raven looked at his own hands and wondered what had he done with those hands…

Why was he feeling so contemplative all of the sudden? Maybe it was the blue eyed man singing his soul out that got him so pensive.

_Itsuka musubareru yori  
Konya ichijikan aitai_

_Nanimo tsunage nai te  
Otona butteta no wa dare?_

And that was when Sasuke realized a few tears had slipped his eyes…

Those treacherous emotions he could not control! He had control over everything in his life, he had a good job and a great living arrangement, he got to spend a lot of his time with people he loved and cared for, he had a great "family" and all the money he needed to spend every once in a while on futilities of life… But still, but still…

Why couldn't HE be his last?!?

The last person he saw when going to bed, the last person to hear his voice, the last person to ever hold him in his arms…

He didn't even knew when it had happen, one day he was the brooding angst bastard every one knew and loved – or hated, most likely – and then the blond had come waltzing into his life, like he owned the happiness in the entire world and was his to give to whomever he desired.

And he gave it to Sasuke…

He gave him smiles and laughter and music and blues and pinks and cherries and tomatoes and vodka and notes and lyrics and… and all the things he could have lived on without having, except when he got them from the blond, he could not denied he wanted them.

Naruto's voice unknowingly accompanied Sasuke's secret pain…

And when the last string of guitar echoed through the walls, the last remnant of unshared pain made his way out in a last sob that was accompanied by Naruto's last pleading wailing.

________________________________________________________________________________

(1) …_Because, in the moonlight, the usual things can look so beautiful... _This is a fragment of Hachigatsu no Serenade by Suga Shikao

(2) Neko is cat; nya nya is the onomatopoeia made by cats, at least according to the Japanese.

(3) Neko ga suki desuka? Means: Do you like cats?

(4) Boooku waaa Sasuke ga daiiiisukiiii!!! Is the drunken from of Boku wa Sasuke ga daisuki!!, which means something like: I like Sasuke a lot!

(5) Mom, why is that  
the things we were brought up with  
are destroyed by ourselves, as the days keep coming?

The collage breaks into pieces  
but it's not thrown away  
There's nothing in my hands  
even when you're holding them...

Be my last... be my last...  
Be my last... be my last...  
Please you have to be my last...

Unknown friends told me to do my best  
But this love was a mistake  
No, it wasn't a mistake

There's nothing to grasp with my hands..  
how far will this dream go?

With my hands With my hands  
With my hands With my hands  
With my hands, be my last...

Rather than being together some day,  
I would be with you tonight, just for a hour

Who is the adult,  
whose connected hand is still empty?

This is a song by Utada Hikaru called Be My Last


	4. Chapter 4

Okay so fourth chapter... horray...

I'm in a weird mood these days, is the winter depression I go through every year, so I'm gonna be moody and sarcastic and ou'll be able to tell... But still, be nice hehehe

Thanks againg to **Divinely Insane** for betaing my work!

This is a transition chapter sort of, so yeha if you think is kind slow that's the reason.

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡**

Two week passed by rather quickly.

Sasuke hadn't seen much of the blond on those 15 days and he wanted to attribute it to the ongoing exhibition.

Besides, he too had been busy.

The raven had gone back to the law firm the Monday after the exhibition's grand opening and had jumped back into action almost immediately, gathering information, interviewing people for the case, researching and asking around.

He decided to throw himself into his work and not let his mind think of anything else besides it.

But it proved to be hard… Especially at night, when he knew that in the room next door, sprawled in his bed, very likely with nothing but his boxers on, was his last thought of the night…

On Wednesday he had gone to see the doctor and he had told him to take it easy, so much walking around wasn't going to help his recovery; but in all honesty, Sasuke thought that if he dared stop, his mind might end up plagued with thoughts of a certain blond.

But on the outside he kept his façade.

He got home and greeted his housemates with the same stoic yet somehow familiar attitude, but he had come up with various ways to avoid the little "family gatherings" with the other two.

Sakura had expressed her concern for the raven's well being, but got dismissed with a wave of the hand and an "I'm fine".

During those two week Sakura had witness at least 5 childbirths and had been amazed by the beauty of it.

It was born from such a mundane process, but when the new human being saw the light of this world welcoming him, she felt like the world could be a place with a little less sadness.

She didn't tell anyone, but she promised to herself in that exact same moment, that if she was ever to become a mother, she would try to make this world a better place to bring her own child into.

And then, for some odd reason she had gone at it like rabbits with Lee.

Naruto was going crazy with so many interviews going on. He was appearing in art magazines and cultural boring shows that he was sure nobody really watched.

He missed the raven, but he wouldn't dare tell him that…

And Sasuke, well, he was busy trying to be who he used to be before he realized he… He what? What was he feeling anyway? What name could he give to those confusing emotions he got whenever he was around the blond?

At nights, when he laid awake for hours and hours, pretending he was thinking of work instead of listening too intently for any movement that came from the adjacent room, he would reflect on how had he gotten to this point in his life…

When his parent had gotten a divorce back when he was ten, he hadn't given much thought to it; but then, one day, when he had gone back home after a long tiring day at school to find a dark lonely house, that was when he decided he would never let one in… He was going to inhabit that lonely house of his own just him alone.

So he wouldn't be abandoned anymore…

And then Naruto had come along…

Sasuke was a bastard when they had met, he knew it. He wasn't trying to be nice to anybody, quite the opposite actually; but the blond seemed to be either very dense or just out right stupid… It didn't take that long for Sasuke to decide it was more like the second option.

All the blond could do was ask about him and his life and what he did and what he liked and what he didn't like; it was like having a fan girl with a penis.

But soon he had realized he liked his presence in his everyday life, it made it somehow fun and… less lonely, less cold… less sad.

And when he had realized what had happened the blond was already everywhere in his life, having spread like a plague on his well kept garden of solitude.

But it was okay.

His sunshine like hair made the garden all the merrier.

A knock on his door brought him out of his musings.

It was Monday night, the start of the third week for Naruto's exhibition, and the start of what Sasuke knew was going to be an agonizingly long week.

The lights of his room were out, the only illumination he had at the moment was the light filtering on the bottom of the door and the little moonlight that entered through his window.

-"Sasuke, are you awake?"- came the voice from the outside of the door.

He wanted to answer the blonds' voice, it was a natural response of his; but he stopped himself. Right now what he really needed was solitude, he needed to figure out what he felt and how had this feeling come to happen.

The raven could see the shadow cast by Naruto standing in front of his door by the crack at the bottom of his door… even that shadow gave him a longing feeling…

A long moment of forced silence elapse and he heard threw his door, how the blond shifted in impatience, but he was not going to answer, not now…

-"Why don't you check the "Share a secret" blog?"- whispered the blond and if it not had been because Sasuke was listening intently to the movements outside his door, he might have not heard it.

What he did hear clearly was Naruto's voice saying, very likely to the female occupant of the apartment: "He's asleep" and then footsteps, a door being opened and then closed.

The raven haven't given it much thought at that for the past weeks, but now as he turned his computer on, curiosity getting the better out of him, he remembered how it had all started.

He had only wanted to say Thank You, those were important words he never shared with anybody, but he thought it was important to tell the blond that he was thankful.

How had it all escalated into this?

This was really a secret, a secret that only he and his soul knew.

But when the glowing light from the computer illuminated the room and in his screen an amplified image of a postcard could be seen, the world did stop for a little bit, even as cliché as it sounded, it did stop…

The postcard was quite simple: plain dark background, white marker cursive letters that read: _Can I?_ And in the center of it, just laying there a big sing that read: _I wanted to kiss you… too…_

That night Sasuke went to bed and fell asleep right away.

Next morning Sakura woke up to find an already dressed raven making breakfast at the early hours of the morning.

-"Sasuke?"- Asked the woman not quite believing her eyes and wondering if she was still asleep: -"Is it you?"- She asked again, just to make sure.

-"No, I'm just a figment of your imagination. When do you need to be at the hospital?"- answered Sasuke placing the freshly made orange juice on the counter along with the salad fruit.

Sakura eyed it and noticed that it had more apples than necessary, but she sort of knew why.

-"At 10, how about you? When are you heading to the office?"- asked the female while stretching scaring the sleep away.

-"Don't know… it depends…"- answered the other enigmatically while getting the bread out of the toaster and placing in on the counter as well.

Sakura stole a slice of toasted bread and took the whole basket to the table and placed it on the center with the juice and the fruit.

-"It depends on what?"- She asked from the dining room table.

-"It depends at what time he wakes up…"- he mumbled, but Sakura was able to hear him just fine.

The woman couldn't stop the shriek that left her mouth and then she jumped from her chair and ran to the ravens' side with a shocked and questioning look in her eyes.

-"Are you going to…"- she whispered without finishing the sentence knowing the other would fully understand what she meant by that.

-"I don't know"- he grunted while placing the two fried eggs he had made on a plate: -"How many eggs do you want?"- He asked trying to avoid the question.

-"I'll have two"- came the sleepy reply from the entrance of the kitchen.

Sakura would have loved to of had a camera with her at the moment.

Sasuke had turned around to find a shirtless Naruto standing in the threshold of the kitchen entrance, rubbing his eyes in a sleepy, almost childish way; the ravens' lips parted slightly but nothing came out of them. Sakura could bet her entire savings – which wasn't much, since she kept spending them on shoes and bags – that the raven was wondering how much had the blond heard from their conversation.

-"You just woke up honey?"- asked the female from her spot right in between the shirtless Naruto and the formally dressed Sasuke, if this wasn't heaven she didn't knew what was.

-"Yeah…"- he answered yawning lazily: -"What were you guys talking about? What did I miss?"- He added, this time sounding more awake.

-"Oh nothing"- answered the woman: -"Sasuke here was just telling me he had loved me for all this time and he wants to go at it like bunnies… nothing out of the ordinary"- she added as she made her way out of the kitchen area leaving the two males alone.

Naruto had a funny expression on his face, something like a mix of surprise, wonder and a little bit of resentment, but Sasuke couldn't figure out why.

Blue eyes were on him as if questioning the veracity of Sakura's words, but not wanting to ask out loud.

-"Of course we weren't talking about that!"- said the fair skinned man as he handed Naruto a plate with two fried eggs and carried his own and Sakura's to the dining table.

-"No. We were actually talking about how much Sasuke here would like to get in your pants"- The woman commented offhandedly as the other two took their seats at the table.

Naruto, who had been taking a sip of his juice, choked a little; and Sasuke, who had been about to take a bite of his toast stopped dead in his tracks and chanced a glance at the blond next to him to seize his reaction.

The tan man seemed to be okay, but Sakura, the ever more observant of the three, noticed how a faint taint of pink graced his cheeks and how blue eyes, very discretely, looked through the corner of the eye, and chanced a glance at the raven.

-"Yeah, I have always wondered if he wears orange all the time"- commented Sasuke drinking some of his juice and pretending it was all a big joke: -"Say Naruto, do you have orange boxers as well?"- asked the raven and directing his eyes towards the blonds' ones giving him a playful smirk.

-"Well, who said I was wearing boxers at all"- he said and reached over for the bread basket near Sasuke and by accident brushed his arm with the raven's own.

-"Well, wouldn't that be interesting"- added the fair skinned man as he reached over to retreat the bread basket and this time very intentionally brushed his own arm against Naruto's.

-"I have always wondered if you are blond down there"- said the female from her place already munching on her own eggs: -"Would you happen to know the answer to that Sasuke?"- added Sakura and gave the raven a meaningful look and a mischievous smirk.

-"Well, I'm actually trying to find that out myself"- he added and turned towards the blond who wanted to pretend he wasn't embarrassed by the subject, but he very much was: -"Are you?"- He asked and very subtly let his eyes roam over to Naruto's groin.

-"Well..."- the blond stuttered and averted his gaze finding his own meal far more interesting then the intense look he was receiving from his housemate.

-"Oh, Sasuke I think he wants you to find out by yourself!"- exclaimed Sakura as she took the last bite of her eggs.

-"Well I would very gladly... But only if he allows me..."- said the raven and directed a very serious glance at Naruto who was still trying to avoid the dark eyes in fear of what he might answer to that.

-"Now Naruto, Sasuke made a request, aren't you going to answer?"- added the female playfully as she stood taking her plate and made her way to the kitchen leaving the two of them alone at the table.

Naruto's baby blue eyes looked over to Sasuke and found him staring at him with an expression on his face he could not quite discern what it meant.

-"Please..."- added Sasuke in a murmur when he noticed he had Naruto's attention back on him.

-"Why would you want to know?"- asked the blond really curious.

-"Is not only the color of your hair that interests me..."- whispered Sasuke as he leaned a little bit closer to the blond, who flinched at the movement.

When Sasuke saw this he pulled back to give Naruto his space and went back to his untouched meal that was growing cold on his plate.

-"I was just kidding dope!"- said Sasuke trying to take importance out of his previous actions and faking a playful tone and expression on his face he stood taking his plate, still with the two eggs he had on it, over to the kitchen.

-"I wasn't…"- murmured the blond alone in the dining room.

Naruto regretted that flinching for the rest of the week, since it appeared to have drove Sasuke even farther way than he had been over the last few weeks.

He wasn't even sure what he would have done if had he let it happen... What was going to happen anyways? He wasn't even sure what Sasuke had meant with all the weird comments and attitude.

Sure, he had sent that postcard, but was he really ready for the consequences of it?

He wasn't' even sure if Sasuke had seen it yet or not, and what did he make out of it.

It was all so confusing!

What had the raven meant by that picture that read _I wanted to kiss you_...? Was he just playing with him? And if so, what could he get out of it? Sure, a good laugh, but that wasn't very Sasuke like; usually whenever he said something, he meant it, this is why he said so little, because when he did it was really important.

And so Naruto had put that other picture next to Sasuke's one and hopped for the best, but Sasuke had seemed, if even, far more distant after the exhibition at the art gallery.

The blond had asked Sakura if he had done anything to upset the other male, but found nothing that could have made the raven so mad to have changed his attitude like it had over the past days.

Sure, he had pretended to be a cat and been a pain in the ass for both of his housemates, but that could not possibly be enough to make the raven angry enough, could it?

He spent the rest of the week trying to remember as much as he could of that night.

To his memory came back snippets of it all...

He had laid on Sasuke's lap, had licked his neck and ear... had placed his hand near his family jewels... Could that have upset him to the extent of him avoiding Naruto so much?

It could not have been the fact that he had told him he REALLY LIKED SASUKE, could it?

Normal people don't get upset over the fact of being liked... But well, this was Sasuke we're taking about so maybe he did... maybe he understood LIKE, like, LIKE LIKE... Shit! What if that was what was upsetting him so much?

Was he so uncomfortable with the idea of a guy LIKING him that way?

Maybe he was, maybe he understood it that way and he was now distancing himself from the blond to avoid those feelings coming from him...?

Now, Naruto had not meant it that way, he had just meant he LIKED him, like a friend, like a housemate, like a buddy... and who was he kidding! He had meant it to be like that! He DID LIKE LIKE Sasuke that way...

But apparently it wasn't mutual...

Then what had it been that time when they had almost kissed... and then that picture... and then that weird ass comment about him being interested about more than just his hair color "down there"?

-"Ahhhhh! Sasuke's so confusing!"- exclaimed the blond pulling his hair in a frustration fit.

Why had it been so much simpler when they were in high school? Sure he had not discovered he had funny feelings for his MALE best friend back then, but that was not the point!

He let out a frustrated sigh as Iruka, his advisor, teacher and friend, entered the small cafeteria Naruto had chosen for their meeting.

The blond didn't have a parental figure he could run to whenever he felt confused on a dire need of advice, but when his collage teacher Iruka had appeared in his life that changed. He became sort of a father/big brother kind of figure.

And right now, Oh did Naruto need advice!

Naruto motioned the older man over to his table, and after they exchange their hellos, Naruto let out a tired sigh.

-"What did you wanted to talk about?"- asked the older man as the waitress approached their table setting the utensils and leaving the menus for them.

-"Well..."- Naruto was having trouble accommodating his ideas and questions into words: -"It's about me... and Sasuke..."- mumble the blond fidgeting with the mantel piece and the fork.

-"What about you... and Sasuke?"- Asked Iruka trying to get Naruto´s attention, but he seemed to have retreated into his own world: -"I cannot help you if you don't tell me"- added the male and that was when blue and brown eyes collided.

-"I think I'm gay"- said Naruto very seriously.

-"You think or you know? There's no 'I'm not sure' in this; either you are or you aren't. Which is it?"- asked the brunet, but the answer to his question was interrupted with the arrival of the waitress asking for their orders.

Naruto took the opportunity and took as much time as he could in ordering, making a few jokes and comments with the woman and she seemed very receptive and attentive towards the blond.

However, Iruka noticed that Naruto didn't seem to have that kind of interest on the female.

When, after around 15 minutes and a brief exchange of names, the waitress left to place their orders.

-"You are gay"- commented Iruka after the departure of the woman and chanced a glance at the blond.

-"Yeah... I am... it's just... it's scary..."- admitted the blond who returned to his fumbling of the mantel piece; he briefly wondered if he could ask the waitress for some crayons and one of those paper mantel pieces they give to little kids to draw on it.

-"It is scary... but you need to work it out..."- added Iruka who studied the young man sitting in front of him: -"But, why now? How did you realize?"- He asked curious about the answer.

-"That's what I meant about me and... Sasuke"- answered the blond whispering the last part as if the name should be kept a secret.

-"Oh I see! So you two are a couple!"- exclaimed the older of the two and gave Naruto a pat on his hand.

-"NOOO!!"- Exclaimed the younger: -"He's... well I don't think he is..."- mumbled Naruto averting his gaze from place to place avoiding Iruka's eyes.

-"You think he's straight as a ruler?"- asked the teacher putting into words what Naruto had been thinking during these past days.

-"Well... yeah..."- answered the other and yet again another sigh left his lips: -"I'm hopeless... It took me a hell of a lot of time to digest this and now it turns out I'm gay for a complete impossible love..."- grumbled the blond who let himself slouch in his seat.

-"Well it's always hard at the beginning, but you just have to deal with it"- added Iruka and gave Naruto an overall look.

-"How do you do it? How do you just let it go? It's impossible! I fucking live, eat, and sleep with him!"- Exclaimed the blond, but then though better of it: -"No wait, if I did sleep with him I wouldn't be having this sort of conversation I guess..."- he added and again he sighed.

-"You're sighing a lot lately"- commented the other man as he saw the waitress approach them back with their orders in tow.

-"Isn't that what people in love do?"- asked the blond, his blue eyes still glue to the table.

-"Love?!"- Half exclaimed half asked the older male as the woman placed their drinks on their table.

Naruto fell silent until the woman had finished placing their orders down and then with a polite "Excuse me" left them alone.

-"Well it seems to be a hopeless case"- added Iruka after being left alone.

-"I decided I'm going to become…"- but before the blond could even finish his sentence, the entrance door has being opened and he caught a glimpse of fair skin and a dark husky voice ask for a table for two.

This was a very popular dinner, so the fact that both the Uchihas were at the same place as Naruto and his teacher were, wasn't all so strange; however Naruto slouched in his seat as far down as he could go and he motioned for the other to do the same.

-"Why are we hiding?"- asked the older brunette in a whisper, not really sure why he should be whispering at this moment.

He thanked whatever divine force out there for the fact that he could pretty much blend in with the crowd; there were just so many blond, blue eyed men!

-"I don't want him to see me"- mumbled the other, his blue eyes never leaving the younger Uchiha from the entrance to the table booth right next to his.

-"Isn't that the point? Don't you want the person you like to notice you?"- asked Iruka again in a whisper.

-"Just shut up and let me listen"- answered Naruto angry at whatever and thanked God for the flowerpots in between his boot and the Uchihas'.

-"What did you want to tell me then?"- heard Naruto and immediately recognized the voice as Itachi's.

-"I…"- mumbled Sasuke and the blond could sense the hesitation in his voice.

-"Good evening! What can I get you this afternoon?"- asked the waitress with a sweetie voice and the eavesdropper couldn't help but dislike that girly flirty tone she had used.

-"Just two coffees and… Sasuke do you want cake?"- Asked Itachi and Naruto knew the answer to that right away.

-"No, I hate sweets. Just coffee please"- answered the younger raven with no inflection whatsoever in his voice.

-"I'll have a strawberry short cake with my coffee please"- added Itachi and he could almost see the dazzling smile he directed to the waitress.

Naruto could almost see dark eyes rolling in distaste at Itachi antics.

-"Why does it bother you?"- He heard the older of the two asked and felt himself smile at the confirmation of how well he knew Sasuke.

-"She just seemed annoying, that's all"- answered Sasuke and the blond could hear him shuffle in his seat.

-"So you were saying?"-asked Itachi and he could feel the smirk on his lips through the playfulness of his tone.

-"I'm… planning on moving out…"- mumbled Sasuke and had the blond not been listening to intently he might not have heard it.

-"What?! Why?!"- asked the older man putting into words what Naruto was thinking as well.

-"I… it's… complicated"- grunted the other, but kept his mouth shut as the waitress approached them with their coffees.

When she left them, Naruto saw her hips swaying a little bit too much and he sent daggers down her way.

-"How is it complicated?"- Naruto heard Itachi's voice ask and he refocused his attention back on the two raven men.

-"I…I can't live with Naruto…"- Sasuke blurted out and the blond could hear the erratic breathing of the other male.

'It is as I thought…'- and the blond felt the well known sting of tears forming in his baby blue eyes.

-"Why? I thought you liked him?"- asked the older brother and Naruto saw the blurry image of his teacher sending him a pained expression.

-"Yeah… I did…"- mumbled the other and his voice broke even if just a little, but Naruto failed to notice this; the only thought in his mind was that of running away from the place, running to a place where it wouldn't hurt this much.

A long silence elapsed in which Naruto was struggling to keep his tears at bay while Iruka's hand rested on his in a comforting manner.

-"Then?"- asked Itachi.

Naruto didn't want to hear the answer to that. Having figured out he had the hots for his best MALE friend had been a terrifying experience, those were emotions very hard to deal with and coming to accept them was even harder… But hearing this, this, was just…

-"I have fallen in love with him…"- said Sasuke, his voice hinting of the conflicting ragging emotions going through his heart.

Blue eyes were unfocussed, wide as platters. Naruto could feel a lonely hot wet tear trailing down his cheek, leaving a moist trail at the corner of his lips at its wake.

-"I… I love the stupid dope, good for nothing, Naruto!"- Finally exclaimed the younger raven letting an altered sigh escape his lips.

-"Well, it took you long enough"- commented Itachi offhandedly as he took a bite of his cake.

-"WHAT?!"- Exclaimed the younger of the two and Naruto felt himself jump a little on his seat: -"What do you mean by that?"- He asked angrily.

-"Well, I pretty much knew… And I guess Sakura did too… and that Neji guy from your work… and my neighbor Gaara and his sister, do you remember her? What's her name? She's so nice, we should go visit them again sometime"-commented the older letting himself get carried away by his own random conversation, while the other emanated some dark dangerous aura.

-"What do you mean you, stupid!?!"- exclaimed the other and a loud thump and then an "Ouch bastard, that hurt" could be heard.

-"It's good that you realized, now what you going to do about it?"- asked the older raven as he took another sip from his coffee.

-"I told you… move out"- answered Sasuke in a mere murmur.

-"Why? Are you really that stupid?"- asked Itachi with a mocking hint on his voice.

-"Shut up will you! You don't understand! I can live with feeling somehow… _attracted_ to him… but… _in love_… that's another level… I know I won't be able to stop myself… I'm going to end up doing something stupid… and I'll lose him forever…"- said the younger brother.

Naruto felt his heart rate jump up at the words.

-"Wow! That's the most I've ever heard you say"- added Itachi and something that sounded like a MANLY chuckle left his mouth.

-"Don't be a smartass"- grumbled the other.

-"Listen… You and me, we have our issues. Very few people know how we truly are, know that we smile and cry just as the rest of the humans beings do… I know it myself, it's rare to find someone that makes you feel comfortable enough for you to open up… when you are with Naruto you actually seem normal"- said the older raven and a smile could be hinted in his voice: -"Why would you want to lose that? Stay around and find out"- he added and then a long silence.

-"This is scary…"- finally said Sasuke after the long lapse of silence: -"I never… I don't know… I'll guess I'll try…"- he said finishing his coffee and fishing a few bills out of his wallet: -"I'll head back to the office, could you pay my tab?"- He asked handing the older the bills.

-"I'll pay"- Itachi answered and some shifting could be heard and finally some retreating footsteps.

When the dinner's entrance door was closed Naruto noticed his untouched cold meal.

He failed to notice when it was that Itachi had left the place as well, all his attention could focus on was the platter sitting in front of him.

In it laid two fried eggs, a sausage, and bacon. He had asked that instead of the pancakes, they added a tomato salad… just like Sasuke ate for his breakfast.

-"So…"- commented Iruka finally bringing Naruto back from his musing: -"Aren't you lucky!"- He exclaimed and took a sip of his orange juice.

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$)=?¡°!"#)=?°!"#$)=?¡°!"#)=?°!"#/)=?¡°!"#$%)=?¡°!"#/()=?°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$&)=?¡°!")=?°!"#$/()=?°!"#&)=?°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=**

Review if you liked it! And if you didn't... then don't be cruel!

Okay so, I'm having trouble coming up with a decent sumary... so if anyone has any ideas I'll be glad to hear them!

Don't read the following if you are not up with the manga!!!

On a more somber note... NO Kakashi!!!! I'm sad... I'm honestly sad and depressed about him... I just hope ahhhhhhhh!!!!

Well, we'll just have to wait and see what Kishimito has in store for us, but if he does it, I'll hunt him down and kill him! he cannot take him away from me!!! please don't! I just had this sudden realization that Kakashi sensei is the sole purpose of my existence!! Hehehehe not really, but I'll be mourning for a few days... an dthen go back to normal hehehe


	5. Chapter 5

Okay so just so you know people and don't say I didn't warned you before hand... Winter depression has officialy gotten to my work...

This chapter suck and I know it, you know it... but there's just simply no way in hell I'm gonna sit down and redo it, because after al, this is all can manage at the moment and anyways anything I come up with is gonna suck just as much, so I'm gonna post it anyways.

If you wanna complain about how it didn't feel like with the flow, like the characters seemed so out of character and you just didn't feel the story with this one... well do so and breed my winter depression with further reasons for it... However, I would apreciate if you gave me any good criticism and any idea as to where story might be going to, so if you had anything to say about my work say it, but don't expect me to be nice about everything you say okay.

And so I present you this chapter of doom!!

And anyways, thanks to Divinely Insane for betaing this for me... I'm gonna try to improve I promise awww!!

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%()=?¡°!"#$%&()=?¡°!"#$%/)=?¡°!"#$%()=?¡°!"#$&/)=?¡°!"#$%/()=?¡°!"#$%/)=?¡°!"#$%/()=?¡°!"#)=?¡°!"#$%&/()=**

Naruto fumbled with the keys on his pockets as the screen on the elevator announced his arrival at the 23'Th floor.

The hallway was empty, but he could hear the humming noise from the air conditioning.

It had been a long confusing day… he was still sorting through his emotions.

And so he was so caught up in his own raging thoughts that he failed to notice the music coming from the living room as he put his key into the lock.

_I'm going home to the place where I belong where your love has always been enough for me I'm running from you know I think you got me all wrong I don't regret this life I chose for me But these places and these faces are getting old So I'm going home_

When the lyrics and notes finally hit him, his blue eyes collided with dark questioning ones.

Naruto noticed how pink lips seem to have parted as if to say something, but nothing came out, but the mouth remained open and the blond wasn't sure why he felt a pulsing need to close it with his own mouth on Sasuke's lips.

-"Okaeri"- mumbled the raven after some time and allow his eyes to roam over the other's body; he hadn't realized how long it had been since the last time he had seen the blond.

-"Tadaima"- answered Naruto a smile already forming on his lips.

When they were in high school, they spent most of their time at each other's houses, mostly because they lived alone.

Sure, Sasuke had Itachi, but he spent a great deal of time working and studying in college, so they hardly spent anytime together at the house anymore.

And so they both had ended up spending their nights at each other's houses. It felt somehow comforting to have someone waiting for you when you got home, for someone to say "Welcome" when you got home instead of the echo of your own voice saying "I'm home!"

-"I haven't seen you for a while"- commented Naruto taking a few steps towards the couch in which the raven laid, surrounded by scattered papers, a few magazines and his laptop laying on top of his lap.

_I've not always been the best man and friend for you But your love remains true and I don't know whyYou always seem to give me another try I'm going home_

A silence settled in and the blond wondered if Sasuke was not going to answer. The lyrics filtering in between them, as if they were more than mere words.

-"Yeah… I've been busy…"- answered Sasuke finally breaking the silence: -"But so have you"-he added waving the magazine he was currently reading: -"You seemed to have given a ton of interviews"- ha said and placed the magazine next to him, on top of a pile of folders and loose sheets.

-"Yeah, but soon it'll be all over"- commented Naruto feeling somehow more relaxed and confident in the raven's presence: -"This Sunday it'll be the closing of the exhibition"- he added leisurely strolling closer to the couch, stopping just two or three steps short to get there.

His hand found its way to the arm of the armchair he was now standing next to.

-"Yeah, so I read"- commented Sasuke and started gathering his stuff: -"They keep asking you the same question though"- he added and turned to look at blue eyes.

-"Oh yeah… The kiss collage right? Well, you already know the answer to that"- answered Naruto and took the few steps to the couch and let himself seat in the opposite end, not really sure how much closer he could get to the raven.

-"Yeah, but, you don't feel satisfied with it, do you?"- asked Sasuke as he placed his laptop on the coffee table, the last words and notes of Chris Daugherty's Home playing out.

_I don't regret this life I chose for me' But these places and these faces are getting old But these places and these faces are getting old I__'__m going home I'm going home_

-"No"- answered the other curtly as he examined the raven fix a few of his folders to then place them in piles.

-"I figured as much… you always need to finish everything so perfectly when it comes to your work"- said Sasuke and then as an afterthought he added: -"And they say I'm the anal one"- and a smirk graced his lips.

-"The thing is… I didn't want to break the theme"- said the blond and waited for the other's reaction.

-"What do you mean the theme?"- asked the fair skinned man curious.

-"Yeah, well… It's just that most of the collages had YOU as the center piece… I would be breaking the theme if I didn't include a kiss in which you were involved"- answered Naruto and mentally cringed at his boldness.

A small "oh" formed on Sasuke's lips as an even longer silence settled in between them.

A new song started, the voice of Howie Day introducing John Mayer on an acoustic duet version of Sorry, so sorry ringed through the laptop's speakers.

_Spend your nights herewe__'__ll always be up lateKeep each other onChemicals can make us stay_

The guitar echoed through the quiet room and Naruto wondered if he had said something he should not have, he thought of faking a joke and letting it slip like that.

But then suddenly the raven reached for his cane resting to his side and made his way quickly to his room.

-"Hey Sasuke!"- called the blond after him; now he had done it. The raven was now going to run away from him, he could hear him shuffling through his stuff, opening and closing drawers: -"Hey listen I didn't…"- but the blond was stopped on his tirade by a flustered looking Sasuke emerging from his bedroom holding a camera on his hand.

-"Don't you dare say you didn't mean it!"- threatened the raven as he took a few steps towards the other male, stopping just short to a few inches away from him.

_And if you really didn't knowI swear I really didn't knowso I'm sorry, so sorry_

-"I… no, I did mean… it"- Naruto struggled with his words a little as Howie Day's voice reverberated accompanied by a mournful guitar playing on the background.

-"Good… cuz… I…"- Sasuke was very conscious he was stuttering, but he could not help it.

-"Are you going to…"- the blond wasn't very sure what he wanted to ask and neither how to ask it.

Sasuke took a few tentative steps drawing him near the blond man.

Naruto felt a lump on his throat and his mouth felt somehow dry, he felt his heart rate speed up a bit and that made him feel somehow dizzy with the overwhelming feelings that seemed to have taken over.

-"I… wouldn't want to break the theme"- whispered the raven and Naruto briefly wondered why should the other male be whispering, but when he noticed the distance between them he realized why.

-"No, you wouldn't…"- Naruto whispered his response and reached over to take a hold of the other's hand holding the camera.

-"Now… I'll… give you… your kiss…"- whispered the raven with a husky voice as the last strings of the guitar solo could be heard as a background.

Their lips barely touched, but it felt as if reaching the long sought goal after a long race… It felt oddly refreshing and at the same time exhausting, as if the wait had taken everything out of them.

The flash of the camera went off as Sasuke absentmindedly pressed the button, but neither of them noticed.

Naruto let his hand move on its own accord as it roamed through Sasuke's forearm and felt the other shiver under his touch.

The raven was the one to break the kiss, but Naruto stopped him from moving any further than arms' reach.

-"I didn't see the flash… did you?"- whispered the blue eyed man short of breath.

-"No… I… we should re-take it"- he mumbled and leaned in closer to soft lips.

And just like that they kissed again.

It felt all so surreal. It was terrifying and it was amazing and it was far beyond scary… but they had reached the point of no return on this.

Naruto felt bold enough to allow his hand to reach for Sasuke's neck to draw him nearer; the other didn't fight it, and reached over as well letting his own hand rest somewhere near Naruto's hips, though he could swear he didn't remember how it got there.

Their bodies were shaking and they could feel it due to the close proximity of them.

But, why was it?

Was it because it was their first time kissing another man or maybe it was because it was their first time kissing each other? Or maybe it had more to do with the fact of the closeness of their bodies, the feel of each other's skin on their own leaving in its wake a tingling sensation that could not be explain with mere words…

Yeah… that might be it…

Absentmindedly one of the two pressed the button, flashing a few times, but neither of them took notice or cared.

Naruto felt the other move towards the living room couch and so he moved with Sasuke's body while letting his tongue roamed over the raven's lower lip unintentionally asking for entrance.

It was granted, but once inside Sasuke's mouth, his tongue didn't know where to start, and so it decided to follow its companion around.

The fair skinned man felt the arm of the couch make contact with the back of his legs at the same time his and Naruto's tongue decided to get acquaintance with each other in a more intimate manner, dancing back and forth in between both mouths.

A groan escaped someone lips, but neither of them was sure if it was their own or the other doing, but it didn't matter much.

Naruto too directed his other hand to Sasuke's hip, pulling him closer and unknowingly bringing their groins into contact.

In Sasuke's hand the camera was forgotten, as he let it fall not hearing the racket it made when it hit the floor.

The friction created with the contact of their bodies caused another series of groans to escape their lips as now both of them were forcefully grinding against each other without a care for anything else than just this moment.

The fears and doubts surely lay on the floor next to the forgotten camera; it was okay for now.

Maybe when they came back from their daze they could redress their souls with all those confusing emotions of denial and fear, but for now they had striped from them and their naked souls demanded to make love to each other.

As it was, they didn't notice the sound of a key getting into the lock, the door being opened and a few steps into the house.

-"I'm home!"- called the female occupant of the apartment, but stopped dead as she came to stand before a very surreal image.

Naruto stood there for what felt like an eternity, still holding Sasuke's hips; the other male looked bewildered by the situation; and Sakura... well... she was trying to stop an oncoming nose bleed.

The two males separated immediately not quite pushing the other and subconsciously letting their hands linger a little longer than necessary on each other.

-"It's not what it looks like!"- immediately interjected the raven before Sakura could make any weird questions about the situation, questions he was sure he could not even answer to himself, at least not just yet.

-"You two... were... holding each other... by the waist...? Is that it? Or is it something else?"- asked Sakura with that all knowing look on her face that got Sasuke all flustered and irritated.

-"No! That's it! He was... he was just going to..."- Naruto was struggling to come up with an excuse gullible enough, but was failing at looking innocent enough at the moment as he saw emerald green eyes travel down his body and then concentrate on his crotch.

-"I fell! That's what happened! And Naruto here, he was just helping me, isn't it dope?"- intervened Sasuke trying to save up the appearances and the situation.

-"Oh! And while he did so, your buttons came undone and his shirt got all rumpled?"- asked the female and Sasuke felt his face go all hot and red.

-"Yeah... it was a bad fall you know"- stuttered the blond while looking at everything and nothing at the moment.

-"Yeah sure... he fell right into your arms and you fell right into his pants"- commented the woman offhandedly as she started making her way to her room and noticed the camera lying on the floor abandoned and forgotten.

-"What is this?"- She asked picking the thing off the floor.

Naruto watched with wide eyes as she picked the thing off the floor and turning it on started searching through the pictures.

-"Nothing!"- Both of them exclaimed bolting to grab the camera from her.

Naruto ripped it out of her hands and he felt the other male sighing in relief at the action.

-"What is in there?"- asked Sakura noticing the wariness of the two males and suspecting even more.

-"Well, nothing much really... I just started a new collection and it's not ready yet"- said Naruto stumbling with the words while handing the camera back to the raven, allowing his fingers to linger a little longer when they made contact with the other's hand.

-"In Sasuke's camera?"- She asked this time eyes very aware of the touch they seemed to have shared in the briefest of moments.

-"Yeah... well you see..."- now Naruto had run out of ideas and turned to the other in search of help.

-"His camera is not quite working... so yeah, he burrowed mine... to work on the new... thing"- answered Sasuke letting himself go with the flow and answering with whatever came to his mind.

-"Yeah that!"- exclaimed the blond feeling somehow proud of the other's good lie.

Sakura eyed them some more, knowing for sure it was a big fat lie, but also knowing they were hiding something they were not quite ready to share with her.

-"Keep your secrets from me then"- she said finally deciding to drop the subject even if just for the moment.

-"There's… there are no secrets"- answered Naruto sounding a little uncertain and the female wanted to think it was because he felt guilty from having to hide the truth from her.

Sakura just smiled, because what else could she do?

-"I'll just hit the hay, I'm…"- she didn't finished her sentence, but it somehow felt that the next word was _weary_ and the blond briefly wondered if she had meant tired or fed up.

-"I'll take a shower"- mumbled the raven as he made his way to the shower as quickly as he could.

Blue eyes followed his two housemates to their destinations, their doors closing at the same time.

In her room, Sakura leaned against her closed door, letting a sigh leave her lips.

It wasn't as if she didn't know this was bound to happen at sometime, but it was just sooner than she had predicted.

She had met Naruto back when they used to live around the same neighborhood, but had never stricken up a friendship with him till later into high school.

Sakura had to admit, her motives for becoming his friend had not been the best and she really regretted having done so for that reason, but in a way she was thankful; had it not been for those ulterior motives pushing her towards the blond she would not have been saved from her loneliness.

She had fallen in love with Sasuke in her early years on junior high. He had seemed so mysterious and intriguing that she decided she wanted to be the one to unravel the mystery around those dark alluring eyes.

It didn't take her long to realize it was an almost impossible feature to make the stoic raven to open up...

That is, of course, until Naruto made his appearance.

The blond just came along and kept bugging the raven until he finally gave in.

On those days, she remembered, she had seen Sasuke smile so much, even laugh; but only when Naruto was around. With everyone else he was his usual broody self.

Sure, he opened up to Sakura a little, but it was always about the blue eyed man.

It intrigued her how much the fair skinned boy had changed from just the coexistence with the blond man that she decided to look closely, more carefully at their interaction...

That was how she noticed...

She suddenly realized she wasn't all that sad and disappointed as she thought she'd be... She felt somehow happy at the fact that the two of them seemed to be happy with each other.

But it did hurt... a little...

But she did not tell any of them how she felt about it.

Naruto would always make her tag along, even when Sasuke seemed to want her out of the equation; but there was always that fine line, in which she could not be there.

Of course, the friendship between two males was always stronger.

And no matter how much Naruto tried, there was always a point in which it was only the two males alone... And Sakura noticed she could not cross that line and go to that secret place only the two of them could share.

She resigned herself to watch from afar as the two of them grew closer and she just tagged along.

Sure, little by little, she got Sasuke to trust her, but it did not matter anymore; she was damned to be the forever watchful witness of the two of them.

The water running in the bathroom could be heard and she could picture Naruto still standing in the middle of the living room, looking at the closed door longingly.

The woman heard the shuffling in the living room and figured the blond was picking up and cleaning Sasuke's mess.

She really wanted to take importance out of the situation, laugh it off and be happy for the two of them... but she just couldn't manage...

She was going to be left alone yet again... And yet again she was to inhabit that lonely place where the third wheel always dwells in...

She sighed yet again turning her light off and stumbling in the darkness towards her bed.

Naruto saw the lights on Sakura's room go off through the crack on the bottom of the door and left himself collapse on top of the mess Sasuke had left at the couch.

What the hell had they been doing?

Yeah kissing… but that had not been all… They had… well they had…

Naruto let out a growl of frustration while standing back up and gathering the scattered stuff on the couch. He went through some of the files trying to arrange them in some order to place them back into their files and into a pile on the coffee table.

The music playing in the laptop was a more upbeat melody and Naruto stopped for a moment to ask himself where did Sasuke got that song from.

Blue eyes spotted a real-a-state magazine; a few of the ads were already circled in red.

He glanced through a few of the pages, stopping at a few of the circled ads, noticing the prices and locations.

The sound of the bathroom door being opened startled him and he turned to find Sasuke standing at the threshold of the door, steam coming out of the bathroom.

-"What is it?"- Asked the raven and immediately spotted the magazine forgotten on Naruto's firm grip: -"Oh that... well I was..."- Sasuke looked somehow embarrassed at being caught, and for some odd reason that made Naruto happy.

-"Where you planning on moving out?"- He asked even though he already knew the answer to that, but he wanted to hear the raven say it. He wanted Sasuke to say he was going to stay here, with him.

-"Well... not really... I was just..."- stuttered Sasuke as he reached Naruto and took the magazine from him: -"I was just, you know, thinking of the possibility"- he mumbled eyeing the thing in his hands as if it was its fault for getting caught.

-"Is it for the rent? Because if it is I'll..."- started rambling Naruto taking a step towards the raven not realizing it.

-"No... Its not that, its just, you know..."- Sasuke was cornered and he knew it, but he was trying to find a way to save as much pride as he could.

Naruto bolted to his own room, leaving a half naked Sasuke standing in the middle of the room.

-"Listen its not that! I was just looking at the ads, just out of curiosity, you know"- he exclaimed running after the blond into his room, but half way to it, he bumped into the blond coming out of the room.

-"Here"- said Naruto extending a lighter to the fair skinned man.

-"Why would I need a lighter?"- asked the raven puzzled by his housemate actions.

-"Burn that thing. You don't need it, do you?"- asked the blond in a defiant tone.

-"You are crazy! Why would I burn it? Its just a magazine and I was just looking, I wasn't really considering..."- but he was stopped on his tirade as he felt a hand rest on his chest pushing him lightly against a wall.

-"So you DO need it?"- murmured the blue eyed man his features turning sour and sad all of the sudden.

-"Its not that, its just..."- but he was again stopped by the light weight of Naruto barely pressing against his body.

-"If you don't need it, burn it"- whispered Naruto feeling somehow in control of the situation and at the same time no; his emotions were getting the best out of him as he felt somehow upset at the thought of Sasuke leaving him.

-"Why are you being so ridiculous about it?"- Asked Sasuke feign anger, because he didn't want the other to notice he was rather nervous at Naruto's closeness.

-"Fine then..."- murmured the blond giving the other his space and letting his gaze travel somewhere else but at the raven's body in front of him.

Sasuke saw the faint disappointment flicker through Naruto's face when he pulled back.

Grunting he snatched the lighter from the blonds' hand, who presented no resistance and made his way to the kitchen feeling blue eyes follow him until he was out of sight.

It wasn't until he heard a gasp at his back that he knew what had he been doing.

He had burnt the damn magazine!

Damn Naruto and his persistence that got him anything he wanted.

-"Happy now?"- asked the raven as he turned to face the other male and finding an unreadable expression on the tan skinned face.

-"Yes…"- whispered Naruto and Sasuke had to lean over to hear it.

Naruto's blue eyes were focused on a very interesting spot on the kitchen floor and the only sound that could be heard was the faucets faint dripping.

Sasuke caught himself wondering what he should do next; he was never good with interactions, normally Naruto took care of making his awkwardness seem, well, less awkward…

The silence lingered a little longer, but neither of them decided to break it, at least not just yet.

They couldn't tell where they stood at the moment; sure, they had kissed, but what did that mean? Did that mean they were somehow together? Or did they need to talk about it?

It was confusing… But well, whenever it came to the two of them it always seemed to be that way.

-"What are you grinning at?"- asked Sasuke not failing to note the forming smile on the other's lips.

-"Nothing"- answered the other meeting dark eyes with smiling blue ones.

The raven eyed him suspiciously, but let it be for the time being.

-"I'll put on some clothes"- said Sasuke and turned towards his room making his way through the living room.

-"Or not"- commented Naruto when the raven finally reached his bedroom door.

When the raven turned he found a smirking Naruto leaning against the kitchen's door frame.

-"Do not tempt me Uzumaki, you wouldn't know what to do with me…"- said the raven in a musky voice that sent shivers down Naruto's spine, but he hid it with a lopsided smile.

-"You never know Uchiha, you could be surprised"- answered the blond feeling bold enough; he was bluffing, but he wondered if the other was as well or if he meant it.

-"You bluff a lot… I know you"- said Sasuke his hand resting on the towel draped around his waist pulling on it a little bit: -"but if you ever came face to face with the challenge… you would run"- he added and turned around, letting the piece of garment slide a little on his way into the room.

Blue eyes caught a glimpse of skin and all his blood and coherent thoughts went southwards.

Naruto stopped to think if the ajar door was an indirect invitation to come in, but he also wondered if he was ready for it.

He stood there intently listening to the faint sounds coming from the room.

In the living room still on top of the coffee table, Sasuke's laptop kept playing songs from his play list; right now it was playing one of Sasuke's Spanish weird songs.

Naruto had never even considered being with a man before this… Had Sasuke been with a man before?

He had never seen the raven with any girl whatsoever, neither did he seem to talk about them… Maybe he was a bit more experience than he was? If so, did that meant he was going to be the "woman" in the relationship…

Wait! Where they in a relationship now?

Damn it! It was like having a relationship with a woman; they always wanted to talk about every little detail of their situation… but now, well they DID need to talk about it, didn't they?

Men were known for the inability of communicating feelings, and dare he say it, Sasuke was the quintessential man when it came to that.

That damn door was confusing him! Being there, malevolent ajar, letting the light from the inside filter with the sounds of steps and rustling of fabric…

He grunted frustrated averting his gaze somewhere else, anywhere else, but that damn door!

He walked to the coffee table, noticing just now, the camera that stood there forgotten.

His thoughts wandered back to half an hour ago or so, when he had shared that kiss with the other male and felt a morbid curiosity at the image of the two of them kissing…

In that camera was hidden the evidence that HE, the great Naruto Uzumaki, worldly known as being as straight as they come, was gayer than that guy from N'sync… what was his name again?

And why was he even trying to remember such a thing!?!

But his thought met a halt when that blessed – it had been damned just a few minutes ago, but hey! People can change their minds right! – Door opened to reveal a now dressed Sasuke.

It wasn't much different from what Naruto had seen him sleep in the past.

Just some loose sweet pants and a comfy looking yet fitted white wife beater.

-"What are you doing?"- asked the raven as he made his way slowly to the couch in which Naruto was seated.

He tried to speculate if Sasuke was just trying to be purposely sexy or if it had more to do with the fact that his leg still hurt a little.

-"Cleaning up after your mess"- said the blond while trying to pretend he had not been holding the camera and with what intentions.

-"Take it… unless you didn't like the pictures"- commented Sasuke when he saw the blond place the camera back onto the coffee table.

Naruto thought he was going to find a flirting smirk on the raven's lips, but instead he found him looking at whatever else in search of an excuse to not look at blue eyes.

They were both man after all, speaking and showing emotions was out of the question… But how did he know? How could he know what the other felt?

This felt somehow weird; it felt almost as if he was the chick…

-"You look tired"- commented Naruto as he eyed the raven with the corner of his eye.

Sasuke turned his eyes to Naruto's face, noticing he was trying to take importance out of the comment; was this his own way of asking if he was okay?

But the raven noticed how Naruto's shirt seemed to be looser than he remembered it to be, underneath blue eyes he could see bags and noticed the scruffy look of his appearance.

-"So do you"- commented Sasuke and waited for the other to elaborate on an explanation, however, the blond kept his silence, his eyes still glued to the turned off TV screen in front of him.

-"Have you not been sleeping?"- He asked tired of the unresponsiveness of the other.

Now, its not that Naruto didn't want to give an answer, it was just that he was not sure which one to give.

Should he be honest and tell him he had not been sleeping well, because he had spent entire nights wondering about the feelings he had for him; how he had not eaten, distracted as he was by hunting thoughts of the raven; how he could not concentrate on anything but Sasuke? Or should he just tell the other it had been a rough month?

Sasuke was not one to wait patiently for an answer and so he grunted a "Whatever" and slumped into his seat reaching for his laptop resting on the table.

-"I…"- mumbled Naruto causing the raven to stop in mid-action to fix his gaze on him: -"I was…"-dark questioning eyes were on him and it almost felt as if they were begging him to tell the truth.

-"You?"- asked Sasuke and his voice sounded a little bit too hopeful for his own liking.

-"I…"- to hell with pride! He was just going to come out and say it: -"I was worried about you… couldn't quite sleep a few nights…"- he finally said averting his blue eyes from Sasuke's own.

But had he been looking he would have seen the look of utter shock and happiness painted across normally apathetic stoic midnight dark eyes.

-"Oh…"- he manages to say after a little while and felt unsure as to what should he should say now.

Should he open up as well? Tell the blond he had been worrying himself about him and his attitude towards him? Perhaps tell him that he had been asking himself at nights whether he should walk away from the blond or stay by his side, even if just as a friend?

-"Well I…"- he started saying, but before he could say anything else his and Naruto's sky blue summers eyes met in an intense gaze that felt short at being described as such.

It was so much more than just a look; it was more than just eyes crashing… it was, it was…

Their bodies were closing in, almost as if pulled by the magnetic force of the other. And they knew it, they were going to kiss again… and after this, whatever happened, it was going to happen no mattered what…

Sasuke's eyes were completely focused on soft pink lips approaching his as he felt his own breath mingle with Naruto's; he noticed the other's breath smelled somehow minty and caught himself wondering if the other had just had another mint just in case they kissed again.

They were so close now… just few more eternal seconds until their lips touched and they could go back to that beautiful place in which they did not have to use words to explain themselves, their bodies would do that job for them.

The blond wondered if they were going to do more than just kiss, if they were going to continue were they had left it when they had been interrupted…

But the answer to that was to remain a mystery, because a loud ring coming from Sakura's room broke the moment and they flinched causing the built up memento to break.

-"Damn it! That stupid Sakura and her stupid loud ring tone!"- grunted Sasuke in between his teeth and that made Naruto feel less disappointed.

They heard the sleepy answer on the other side of the room as their eyes once again crashed together, but this time with less evil intentions in mind.

-"Yeah…I'm awake now…"- they heard the grumbled response and felt somehow happy at her discomfort: -"What do you…"- she couldn't finish her sentence as the person at the other end of the line seemed to have cut her off, her tone had sounded far more distress than it should have: -"It can't… but…"- she couldn't form coherent sentences and this worried both males who were exchanging worried looks: -"I'll be right over"- she said sounding more resolute, but her voice sounded broken as if…

The door to her room was suddenly thrown open as the woman, clad in sweet pants and a zip up hoodie, walk out, her eyes looking puffy and red, a hard to read expression plastered on her features.

-"What happened?"- Naruto asked first, all anger at her, forgotten at the moment.

-"Its… Lee…"- she managed to choke out before she broke into tears.

Naruto saw in slow motion how Sakura's knees gave out and how Sasuke bolted from his seat on the couch barely making it by her side, the sound of the abandoned cane falling to the floor as the soundtrack of Sakura's breaking; the grimace in Sasuke's face made Naruto wonder if the other was still hurting from his leg, while Sakura's tears and muffled unintelligible sobs and cries sounded through the otherwise silent room.

Dark eyes meet blue in an understanding nobody else could have seen or get.

They were after all a "family" and as a family, they had a duty to this woman.

Naruto grabbed the keys to Sasuke's car while he dragged her out of their apartment.

Amongst the incomprehensible soliloquy she seemed to be having with herself, they decided they were going to take her to the city hospital, where Lee, laid in the threshold of death.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so this is the deal.

I received several reviews telling me to update soon and what not, the thing is I used to have an amazing beta, but a "friend" of mine offered herself to beta my work and guess what, she bailed out on me!!! the little bastard... and so I've been looking everywhere for a new beta but nobody wants to... ¡_¡ and so this particular chapter is gonna really suck cuz is not beta'ed and cuz I was depressed while writting it...

If anybody wants to help me out and be my beta I'll be more than glad to take you up in the offer, cuz I'm honestly desperate at this point.

You are gonna find a great big amount of mispellings, horrible grammar and typos, but please be nice and while reviewing take that to account please

Thanks and I guess... enjoy...?

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#()=?¡°!"#&()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?¡°!"#$%&/()=?**

Naruto had never liked hospitals; and now finding himself for the second time in less than 6 months in the same emergency room, he asked himself if that was a bad omen.

-"Do you think is a bad omen?"- asked Naruto in a whisper to the fair skinned man seated next to him.

Sasuke's gaze was fixed on the swinging doors leading to the operating area, keeping hidden from them blood, tears and pain. The blond felt somehow thankful for the closed door; however the raven seemed to be trying to burn holes through them.

-"What?"- finally answered Sasuke distracted by the swinging open and close of the door, that cruelly left him wondering what was hidden behind them.

-"The hospital; this is the..."- started saying the younger of the two, but immediately stopped himself, realizing just then of the inappropriateness of his comment.

Blue eyes followed the path from the swinging door to the front desk and to Sakura, standing next to it.

She was exchanging hushed words with Lee's father, an older man that looked just as Lee did, except, well, older.

Sakura's emerald green eyes were puffed and red, but she had hardly cried much and this made Naruto wonder whether it was due to tears or to tiredness; she had had a double shift that day and it was hardly ever a calm day at the emergency room of the general hospital of Washington.

He let his eyes roamed over her body, noticing little details about her appearance.

He found it felt like morbid curiosity, but couldn't stop himself from the scrutiny.

He didn't fail to notice the rings around her eyes - must be from tiredness, he thought - and the grayish sick color of her skin instead of the normal pink tainting her face normally had - tiredness as well, he though again -, the dishevel look she had going for her and was very likely unaware of - but who cares about their appearance when their loved one is dying - and finally she had bed hair, going in all direction.

He let himself slouched on his seat, but immediately regretted it. Hospital waiting room chairs were always uncomfortable and there was no feasible way of finding a position in which you could be somehow at ease while sitting on those chair brought from hell.

He redirected his eyes to the man to his left.

Sasuke was tense and he could tell.

There was a vein popping from his neck while his elbows rested on his knees, his hands cooping his face, midnight dark bangs of hair covered half of his face, making it difficult for Naruto to exactly discern the expression on the other male face, but that was exactly how he knew Sasuke was worried. Whenever the raven tried to hide himself and his emotions from others it meant he was feeling somehow vulnerable and if there was something Sasuke didn't like, it was feeling exposed in anyway.

Not far from were they were seated, on the northern corner of the white room, stood a small group of people, all of them exchanging whispered words and what he supposed were trying to be comforting looks, bus instead came out as grimaces of pain.

He briefly wondered what could be the reason of their visit, but chose to ignore the prodding on his mind and turned to the malevolent swinging door.

He had always believed hospital to be very quiet calm places, but now, it proved to be quite the opposite.

Sounds of crying babies an moms hushing them as they could manage, ambulance sirens resonating far away in the distance, the humming sound of the air conditioning and of the hushed down conversations families sustained with each other, a muted sound from the coffee machine at one of the entrance corners, the screeching of tires and the clanking of metal from the stretches.

He looked back towards the entrance door, the automated door opening and closing non stop at the entrance and exit of doctors, nurses, paramedics and patients.

It was past beyond 4, or so he guessed it to be, he could not be sure because he had forgotten his watch on the coffee table at his living room when they left in a rush.

That got him thinking again...

When had Sakura and Sasuke developed such a strong bond between them? Is not like he was mad about it or anything, quite the opposite, it made him happy to finally see those two clicking; but that whole scene kept repeating itself on his mind over and over again.

It had just seemed so surreal... Sakura breaking apart, and he could have sworn he had seen the pieces of her fall in the floor; and Sasuke, running to her side... breaking her fall... the grimace of pain plastered in his features... but not a single word was uttered.

He sighed, but he couldn't tell if it was due to tiredness or to worry.

Sakura was still standing near the front desk, a few nurses would pass by and through her some encouraging words and she responded with a fake smile, though nobody else noticed.

The blond caught himself wondering if Sasuke had been able to tell the difference between Sakura's smiles...

Again blue eyes travelled to look at his companion.

They had been through a lot together; he honestly believed that there was no being in the whole wide world that knew him as well as the raven did. Sasuke could tell when he was upset or when he was hiding something, when he felt uncomfortable or when he felt pressured to do something. Sure, Sakura did too, but there was simply something about the way him and Sasuke had lived their friendship that made him feel some much closer to the other male.

He wondered if this was the reason as to why he had "fallen in love" with the rather stoic male.

'Sou kana?'- he though to himself as he reached his hand and placed it on the older man's shoulder.

Sasuke turned around and he gave the blond the most cryptic look he had ever seen on those dark eyes.

-"Are you okay?"- asked Naruto and he then realized he wanted to hear the other speak, he wanted to hear his voice so much; they had hardly exchange any words at all since they had gotten there.

-"yeah... I'm just... you know, worried..."- mumbled the raven and averted his gaze towards what Naruto thought to be Sakura's direction; he too turned to her and caught her looking longingly at the door leading to the operating area.

Even though she was a nurse, there was a strong policy of not allowing any family members or relations into the operations and so Sakura had been left to wait for the results.

He knew Sakura better than she gave him credit for.

People believed he never paid much attention to detail, but he did...

He knew she had approached him to get closer to the Uchiha, but back then everyone did, and to be completely honest with himself he enjoyed the attention he had received back then.

And so Sakura had stay around and tried to get closer to the closed up raven and all the while Naruto was trying to prove her, and maybe himself, that he was worthy of attention from anyone. And so little by little he made his way into Sasuke's cold heart and not later than that, he noticed that even Sakura seemed to have realized his true worth.

But he realized something back then...

He wanted Sakura to be happy... and maybe that happiness was embodied on Sasuke.

Naruto found he didn't like the feeling of it; he spent a great amount of time weighing his options.

But before he could have realized it, somehow Sasuke had settle himself into the blonds' life and found a place - both metaphorically and literally - on his life.

They got to an unspoken routine in which both of them were comfortable, and so why break that?

But that was when the blue eyed man started seeing Sakura's behavior towards both of them...

He knew what she had been through, he knew what kind of hell could that be; he himself had felt somehow identified with her story and so he had made the drastic decision of push Sasuke away. Maybe not quite obviously, but he had to, he needed the raven to realize the worth of their female friend and maybe, that way, both of them could be happy together...

However, at night, while lying awake on his bed, the idea seemed somehow odd, like out of place...

He had started dating Hinata back then.

She was a nice girl, shy yes, but beautiful and graceful as well, she had a lot of qualities to her that made Naruto feel for her.

Now, thinking back on it, it had been a great time with her... But somehow, it had felt like something had been missing...

'Maybe a penis...?' - he thought amused to himself as his eyes turned again towards Sasuke's dark ones, noticing just then he had not been looking at Sakura like he had first thought, but at the white wall right behind her, that somehow reminded Naruto of emptiness.

The blond man had always asked himself what the raven thought about whenever he was quiet, but had never asked him because he felt it was some kind of invasion to his privacy, however, this time, the words seemed to have escaped his mouth without him having any control over them.

-"What are you thinking about?"- he asked and as soon as the sound of his own voice reached his ears he felt the pulsing need to physically slap himself on the forehead.

-"You..."- mumbled distractedly the raven and Naruto noticed the other might had not even been aware of what he had said, since he was still looking intently at the plain wall.

Widen blue eyes stared at Sasuke's impassive face.

Naruto wanted so much at this moment to have his camera with him, take a picture of Sasuke's never changing face and store it forever more on his memory.

He clicked his mental camera to store the memory of this for later, for the nights maybe, when he felt alone.

The Star Wars Imperial March started sounding and Naruto could have sworn the sound came from Sasuke's back pocket.

The raven then came out of his daze; reaching for his back pocket, where indeed the sound was originated from and extracted his cell phone.

Murmuring a hasty "excuse me" he stood up and headed for the automated door leading to the cold outside of the hospital, not like inside it was any better though.

Naruto knew that to be Itachi calling, because who else would dare to call Sasuke at this unholy hour of the morning, whatever hour that might be.

He followed the retreating back of Sasuke until he got to the doors, he heard a small snippet of the start of the conversation as Sasuke said "moshi, moshi" - Naruto let a smile formed on his lips when he heard the words - and then at the other end of the line he manage to hear a few of the cut down words on Itachi's voice.

He turned around again, cracking a few of his bones and stood from the uncomfortable seat looking over to where Sakura was still standing, still her emerald green eyes were glued to the swinging doors.

Sasuke regretted having left the house without even bothering to grab a jacket. Even though it was nearing the summer, the nights in Washington could be cold at times and his bad luck decided this was one of those nights.

He made sure to tell Itachi to bring over a jacket for him and Naruto and before hanging up, he asked one for Sakura.

The raven could not be sure, because he could not see the other's face, but he could sense on the older male's voice, the knowing smirk forming on his lips.

When the raven turned around to re trace his steps back in to the ER waiting room, he found a man standing near one of those smoking bins they place at strategic spots near he entrances of places where there would be more likely smokers.

The man, much older than him, or so he looked like, was taking the last drag of one of his cigarettes, while fishing in his pocket for the packet to get a new one.

Sasuke approached him, feeling for the first time in such a long, long time, the need for the unhealthy habit he had dropped on Sakura's and Naruto's request.

-"Could you give me one?"- asked Sasuke as politely as he could manage, but his voice sounded somehow off and rough and so he thought of trying again, by adding a "please" a the end, but he was interrupted by the man handing him the packet and then the already lit lighter in front of him.

-"Thanks"- mumbled the raven after the first drag letting the smoke escape his lips and the nicotine linger on his system.

The two kept smoking in silence, neither of them feeling the real need to ask or to answer anything at the moment.

The automated doors opened up once again and Sasuke's dark eyes caught a glimpse of Naruto making his way over to Sakura near the desk. He knew the two of them would smell the smoke on his clothing and reprimand him on it, but for the moment he didn't care.

-"Who are you here for?"- suddenly asked the older man allowing the smoke to come out through his nostrils; when Sasuke saw that he tried to remember the sting it caused as if to not do it, but he ended up doing it anyways.

Sasuke didn't know what to answer, because, indeed, who was he here for?

Was he here to support Sakura? Was he here because he had somehow ended up bonding with that freakishly fuzzy-eyebrows? Or was he here for...

-"I'm here with family"- he said without letting his mind wander too much on a subject he was still having trouble dealing with.

-"A brother? A sister?"- asked the man and had it been any other situation Sasuke might have feel uncomfortable with the prodding, but he didn't seemed to care at the moment.

-"My sister's fiancé"- he answered and through the transparent doors he manage to see Naruto smile and hug Sakura and he couldn't stop the smile that formed on his lips.

-"You must be really close"- commented the man as he took yet another drag from his cigarette, just two or three more and it would be over.

-"How about you?"- asked the raven feeling somehow bold to ask the stranger, but after all he had answered, had he not?

-"My wife"- answered the older man shortly, the smoke from his cigarette clouding his mouth.

Another silence settled in and the two of them regarded it.

The older man finished his cigarette and put it off tossing the cigarette butt on the trash can along with the packet that still had a few cigarettes left on it, but Sasuke didn't question it as he took his own last drag from his cigarette.

-"Thanks for the company"- mumbled the stranger dusting off some ashes that had fallen on his coat.

-"Thanks for the cigarette"- said Sasuke and the other man started making his way to the entrance when the raven said again: -"Hope your wife gets better"- he added.

The man stopped dead on his track not looking back and Sasuke wondered if he had gone and said something completely wrong. Damn be his social awkwardness!

-"She won't be"- answered the man and then turned giving Sasuke a cryptic look: -"She has terminal cancer"- he added as an after thought and gave the raven a sad smile: -"Love with all you've got"- he said and finally turned walking through the door leading to the ER and then disappearing in the flood of people awaiting in the plain white room.

Sasuke caught yet again another glimpse of blue eyes searching in between the people coming and going from the ER.

It felt somehow surreal, to be able to see Naruto like this; he was sure the blond couldn't see him, but those blue eyes were looking for him among the crowd, or so it seemed.

If the indeed was... that thought made him feel... good.

He finally made his way into the waiting area, his eyes glued to any other thing but Naruto's blue ones; he felt that if they made eye contact, the blond male would know he had been staring at him and that was not good for his manly pride.

'Yeah, very manly indeed'- he thought mockingly to himself, as he finally reached the group still waiting for any news on Lee's condition.

-"Itachi is coming over"- commented Sasuke just for the sake of saying anything and looked at Sakura instead of Naruto: -"Do you need anything from the apartment? He's gonna go over there and get me a jacket or something"- he asked and took note of Sakura's red eyes... he couldn't remember when had her emerald green eyes looked so sad.

Dark and emerald eyes crashed on an unknown understanding... It left them both feeling weird at having reached that kind of stage in their friendship, but at the same time is understandable, after all what united them was the blond now looking at them both, as Sakura's green eyes exchange inexistent words with Sasuke's dark own ones.

-"No, is fine. Thanks."- she mumbled suddenly averting her gaze as if coming back to a harsh reality, one in which the man she loves lies behind those plain swinging doors.

-"You look tired Sakura, maybe you should sleep a little"- comments Naruto as he places a hand on her shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

-"Yes, Sakura dear; you should get some rest. You told me you were here for a double turn, weren't you?"- added the older man, him too giving her what tried to be a reassuring smile, but felt more sad than anything else.

Sasuke kept looking at her as she pretends to be paying attention to the conversations and nods and gives them a fake reassuring smile. He doesn't say much and just walks towards the coffee machine to buy an espresso.

He's never really liked coffee and being completely honest, he hates the smell of it, it makes him think of family mornings that he never had while growing up. But when the three of them started living together at the beginning of college, it was an everyday occurrence to have that smell flood the house at the early hours of the mornings.

When the coffee was ready, Sasuke took it from the machine, letting the smell flood his nostrils.

-"Here"- he said after returning by Sakura's side: -"is an espresso. It'll help you stay awake"- he added giving her a knowing lop sided smile.

If there was any one that knew about her stubbornness better than anybody, that was the raven.

He remembered on their early days at junior high school, when she had started getting a liking for him; she always proved to be the most persistent of his "followers". Hell! She had even found out where he lived.

Sasuke knew immediately that she had approached Naruto and him as an attempt to get closer to him; he often found her shunning the blond. And before he knew it, he had taken a liking for the blond "nuisance" he had claimed to hate at the beginning... and no later than that so had Sakura.

Naruto, even though, always declared to need salvation more than anyone - and Oh God! did he need it! - ended up been the salvation of those two.

Soon the blond became the sunshine and joy of both their lives, there was simply no way in the worlds they could refuse him anything... After all, that was how they had ended up living in that apartment together in the first place.

If asked, both Sakura and Sasuke would deny it of course; but they both saw in Naruto their guiding light.

'Great! I have an idiot for a guide in life'- thought Sasuke amused and saw Sakura's own small smile grace her lips and knew her train of thought might have been going through the same path as his.

-"You two are being weird"- said Naruto furrowing his brow and looking suspiciously in between the two of them.

'This is what family is like'- thought Sakura as she eyed her two most important guys and the three of them smiled at some unknown happiness of been together.

Whatever musing the three of them might have had and shared with each other were to remain unknown as the door that led to the operating area swung open letting out a woman, not much older than Sakura, ripping from her body the blue operating gown, Sakura didn't missed the stains of blood on the front, but looked away as if not to know whose they were from.

-"Sakura"- greeted the woman and now, as close as she was at the moment, Naruto noticed the dark ring under her red eyes: -"Tsunade wants you in the operation"- she stated without beating around the bushes: -"Normally it would be considered against policy, but she thinks you could do a great job"- she said and then felt silent awaiting for the other woman's answer.

Sakura finally understood what people said about time stopping for an infinite minute...

All the memories of her life came rushing back to her.

She allowed her eyes wondered as if in slow motion over the three males standing in front of her, and just in that moment she noticed so many things about them.

Naruto looked skinnier – when had he gotten so thin? – and tired, but still his infamous grin lit up his tired expression; Sasuke too looked tired, with rings under his eyes, that his paler than normal skin, made stand out even more and she noticed then the Pj's – of course nobody else could tell the difference, but she knew the raven was never to be caught death wearing sweat pants and a fitting wife beater – and the lack of a jacket; then the older man, who too had rings under his eyes – had they been here that long? – but a confident smile plastered on his lips, as if he could see ahead in the future and knew everything would be alright.

Her mother had once told her happiness came in a bottle: Prozac. She somehow had always thought happiness was bound to come in the shape of something she could touch and control, measure and limit, but did it really?

She had often wondered if her happiness had come in the form of a male.

But now, feeling Naruto's warm hand squeeze strongly, but yet gently and reassuringly her own hand, and Sasuke's cold hand resting on her shoulder with a comforting weight, she had come to the realization that no, it did not came in the form of ONE man, but in the form of these two.

The secret understanding lingered a little longer in the air, as if to comfort her and push her forward, insuring her that it would be alright as long as she trusted herself and the ones she loved.

-"Yes, I'll do it"- finally said the green eyed female, letting a small smile take form in her lips.

-"When Lee gets better, we'll all go to the karate championship competition"- said Naruto finally letting go of her hand giving it one last squeeze.

-"Yeah, we'll all go"- repeated the raven earning an even bigger smile from Sakura.

-"Sure. I'll say Hi to him from you guys"- she said walking towards the operation area, the other woman already briefing her on Lee's condition and the details of the surgery.

Naruto felt this weird nagging on his mind telling him to reach over Sasuke and grab his hand.

That had sounded so, well... gay...

The blond couldn't stop the chuckle that left his lips.

-"What is so funny you dope?"- asked Sasuke with a questioning eyebrow; it had always amazed Naruto how the raven could do that, lift just one eyebrow, it didn't matter how much he tried he just couldn't do it, the two of them would shut up and he ended up with a more surprised looking expression instead of the desired inquiring one Sasuke always had when pulling the trick off.

-"Nothing"- murmured Naruto, a lop-sided smile gracing his lips.

When they both turned to the operation room' doors, Sakura's retreating back was gone and all that was left was that lingering sensation of wanting to say something else, something much more... much more...

They made their way back into the uncomfortable seats of the waiting room.

A silence settled in and none of the three males decided to break it.

Sasuke felt blue eyes glued to his neck and he briefly wondered if the blond could see the vein popping out on his neck; he rubbed at a sore spot on his neck while stretching on his seat.

-"Here"- said the blond and it surprised Sasuke that it sounded so tired and gentle; when he felt Naruto's hands massaging his back he tensed up a little bit, but then reminded himself to relax, there was nothing wrong on receiving a back rub from his… his…

Oh yeah… he didn't know what they were anymore…

He tried to remember if Naruto would usually give him massages on the back on public places before they had… well, kissed; but couldn't remember any such situation. Did this mean they were sharing some intimate contact only _couples_ shared?

Sasuke couldn't control the shiver that ran up his spine, but he wasn't sure if it had to do with his trail of thinking or the fact that Naruto's hands were now on his lower back.

-"Relax"- he heard the husky whisper behind him and asked himself when Naruto had moved him so he was giving his whole back to the blond.

The raven tried to relax, but questions kept popping to his head.

Like what all of what transpired at their apartment meant.

They had kissed... and then they had... Oh Good God! They had dry humped each other!

-"You are not relaxing at all"- came the complain form the blue eyed man.

'Well, you try to relax while thinking what I'm thinking'- provided his mind, but he kept it to himself.

They were bound to have a conversation about it at some point and he knew it; however he felt uncertain on how to tackle the subject. Somehow _'So wanna make out and dry hump sometime soon?'_ didn't sound like the right way to approach the subject...

-"I have always wondered if you have a stick up your ass"- this time he actually felt the whisper near his right ear and tensed up even more: -"And now I might think you do"- added the blond in what could be thought of as jokingly, but to the raven sounded far more seductive than it should.

Damn! Naruto was been seductive under these circumstances!

Tan hands started working on his shoulders again and that made Sasuke less uncomfortable, but he could feel the proximity of the other by the warmness radiating from Naruto's body.

-"Are you trying to seduce me?"- asked the raven surprising even himself with his boldness.

-"I might be..."- answered after a few seconds the blond and Sasuke could have sworn he felt the other's fingers tensed on his shoulders as he massaged them.

-"This is a hospital..."- said Sasuke, but it sounded such a lame statement, of course this was a hospital! What else could this be?

Someone cleared their throat just behind them and that brought them back from whatever beautiful place they had decided to go to, and when they turned around their eyes collided with Sasuke's older brother.

-"Did I interrupt something?"- asked Itachi a knowing smirk plastered on his mouth.

Naruto was about to say 'No' and then laugh if off as he usually did with awkward situations, except he couldn't as he was cut out by the raven.

-"Sort of, but we can continue some other time"- answered Sasuke also allowing a smirk to grace his lips: -"Thanks for the backrub Naruto, I really needed it"- he added standing up and walking over to his brother.

The older version of Sasuke handed him his jacket and Naruto's and placed Sakura's pink sweater on the nearest empty chair, on his other hand rested a cup holder with four steaming cups of what smelled like coffee, but Sasuke could tell there was some Chai Tea in there for him.

-"Where's the bundle of happiness?"- asked Itachi eyeing the older man seated two seats from where Sasuke had been sitting that was looking at them with a sad smile on his lips.

-"She went in. She's gonna help with the operation"- answered the younger Uchiha taking the cup holder and sniffling through the cups, finally finding his tea and handing both Naruto and mister Gai a cup of what smelled like Starbucks house blend.

-"What is it?"- asked Naruto as he opened the lid, eyeing the hot liquid.

-"House blend"- answered Sasuke beating Itachi to it and then taking a sip of his own tea.

-"For not liking coffee, you sure know a lot about it"- commented Naruto also taking a sip from his own cup being careful not to scald himself.

Silence settle in as Sasuke took his seat again and Itachi walked over to Gai and introduced himself as Sasuke's older brother and Naruto's and Sakura's Aniki.

The blond couldn't help but chuckle at the name.

-"When I was brought here, did you have to sit here and wait as well?"- suddenly asked the silent younger raven not really making eye contact, his dark orbs fixed on his steaming tea.

-"yeah... Only a couple of minutes though"- answered Naruto feeling shy about saying this to him.

He wasn't sure why he should be feeling shy about that, but he did and it made him feel somehow exposed and vulnerable.

-"I would hate not been able to be by your side"- confessed Sasuke his eyes still glued to the tea; Naruto then noticed the other had hardly drank much from his tea.

-"I don't know if you remember, but Itachi said that when you got here you asked for me..."- mumbled Naruto and as soon as the words left his mouth he felt somehow stupid at having uttered them.

-"yeah... I did"- said the other hesitantly, still eyes somewhere else, but Naruto's blue one were now fixed on Sasuke's features.

-"I felt horrible, you know"- started saying Naruto: -"not knowing what was happening to you... and I got here later than Itachi did... had you..."- he didn't dare say what he had meant to say... what if that had happened indeed? If the other had died and he could had never gotten the chance to tell him anything... to kiss him...

Sasuke turned around facing the blond when he finally understood what the other had meant.

-"Had I died?"- asked the raven feeling a lot of things that couldn't be put into words.

Naruto felt this strange pulsing need to reach over and kiss the life out of him.

Their eyes crashed and everything else faded away. The sound became inaudible, the people became inexistent and all there was, was the two of them leaning to each other.

They knew it, it was going to happen, they were going to kiss again, in front of all this strangers, but they couldn't bring themselves to stop it, they did want to stop it…

Sasuke could almost feel Naruto's soft lips on his, just a little bit more…

But as they saw the inevitable approach of the other closing in, they heard a clearing of a throat as if far away in the distance.

But the sound brought with it the rest of the sound and faces, which came crashing against them like a slap in the face.

They both pulled apart, blue and dark eyes averted somewhere else but the others'.

However, a pale hand found it's way to rest on a tan one, fingers barely intertwined…


	7. Chapter 7

I'm sorry I took long, but again I haven't found a beta reader... and so the spelling and grammar still sucks and i don't really like how it came out; besides it was my finals for my masters class and well just a lot of shit happened...

I wonder if a few of the people that had stick to this story are still around... I make you guys wait so much and then give you so little... I'm sorry, i'll try to improve and I'll try to find me a beta reader okay?

Well, so here it is. In here it has a little more smut, but I still have a few character's development I need to work on... Still, I think it came out pretty decent looking so yeah...

review...? Please...?

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When Sakura came back out after three hours, which had felt somehow like an eternity, they all walked over to her by the swinging doors to see her pained yet more relaxed expression.

Sasuke had bolted from his seat, taking Naruto with him, still holding him by the hand.

Neither of them noticed…

She had explain them that it was going to take a hell of a lot of time for Lee to recover and he was going to need yet another operation and months of therapy. However, he was alive.

Again the nurse only allowed family members to walk in; but Sakura had managed to let them all in.

The raven noted so many things while they walked in an easy silence through the corridors.

He vaguely remembered having passed through these exact same plain hallways been barely aware of the noises and voices that made no sense whatsoever.

What he did remember was the overwhelming feeling oppressing his heart at realizing how close he was to dying and how much he thought of the blue eyed blond he had shared most of his high school and college life, and in that moment he realized he could not live without the dumbass.

Unknowingly, he squeezed Naruto's hand, only a little, even if just to reassure himself that the other was indeed there with him, holding his hand.

They had been able to see Lee and even sustain a small conversation with the injured man; he was all drugged up and kept calling every nurse Sakura and asking them to marry him. The first three had been fun for her, but after the sixth, she just asked all the nurses to leave the room and appeared to be slightly angry at the young man.

Mister Guy told them they should probably go back and get some rest; especially Sakura who had spent almost 2 days on a row on the hospital.

She had declined at first, claiming she really wanted to stay by Lee's side – and secretly Naruto had found this the most romantic thing ever – but ended up accepting when her eyelids kept closing in on their own accord.

Itachi drove them back in a quiet and peaceful ride home.

Once outside their apartment building, the older raven helped them get Sakura to her room and her much needed bed. He also commented he would have never guessed the female to be so heavy.

And the three of them pitied Lee.

Itachi took his leave rather soon, declining Naruto's invitation to have some breakfast with them – in all honesty, he had done so more because he felt somehow nervous to be alone with Sasuke again after what had transpired between them at that exact same place – and told them both that if they needed anything to give him a call.

When the door had closed behind Itachi, Sasuke saw how Naruto's shoulders flinched with the sound and his neck became tense.

A silence settle into the room while the tick tack of their wall clock could be faintly heard as a background noise, lost to them, as the only sound they could really care about were the other's nervous breathing.

Now what? Did they just pretend noting happened and let themselves go with the flow or should they sit down and talk about it?

Naruto realized he had not been quite thinking when he had pushed the raven against the couch while inspecting his mouth with a little too much tongue... But then again, they could do just that again.

Sasuke cleared his throat, not sure of why he had done so when the blond turned around and faced him with expectation sparkling on his blue deep eyes.

A silence settled in and their gazes were looked to each other, none knowing what to do next.

And indeed what to do? A lot of thoughts had gone through their minds while in the hospital, looking at white plain walls, and scaring away ghost of unknown fears they didn't know resided in them until face with it.

They could hear Sakura's even breathing in her room, having left the door slightly ajar, even if just to be sure she was still there...

They were both feeling a sea of conflicting emotions that pushed them and pulled them in all directions. One direction pulled them towards the sleeping woman they both considered their sister, watch her sleep until they were completely sure she would be alright; the other pushing them towards each other... and unknowingly that was what their bodies had been doing while still contemplating what to do and what to say.

-"I'm..."- started saying the raven, but stopped himself when he noticed he wasn't really sure what was it he really wanted to say.

He had felt and thought of so many things while sitting on that waiting room, holding Naruto's hand. He had felt that he was somehow stronger when the blonds' heat passed to him through their entwined fingers, he had thought he did not want that feeling to ever end... And he had felt like kissing Naruto until there was nothing left of him, until there was no tomorrow waiting for them, because if he could stay next to the blue eyed man there was nothing else he really wanted. But all of these realizations were terrifying, because they somehow meant he was vulnerable to the other male, without knowing how or when Sasuke had given his all to Naruto...

When had that happen? Maybe it had been somewhere in between Naruto saving him from himself and they kissing and dry humping in their living room that he had lost himself to the blond male.

Naruto's mind was wondering through the same dangerous territories.

He was far beyond scared witless, he did not have any idea as to where this - whatever "this" might be - could be going... that is, if it was indeed going anywhere.

And that thought scared him even more when he realized he did not wanted it to be like that. He wanted "this" to be going somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, as long as the raven stayed by his side.

-"You..."- started the blond but his voice had sounded somehow rough, husky and so he tried to clear his throat and maybe with it his own thoughts.

Sasuke's dark hunting eyes kept staring at the other in search of Naruto's next words in his eyes.

-"We... do we?"- continued Naruto, but when he heard the echo of his own voice resonate on the silent apartment and he recognized the sound of hope dripping from the "WE", he stopped again, fearing that his voice might brake again and with it his own self control.

-"We?"- asked the raven and tried with all his might to sound as indifferent as he could manage... He failed though, because he saw the eyes of the other twinkle in anticipation.

They both stood there, thinking of what to say next, what to do next...

And they didn't realized they had both already decided what to say and do until their lips collided again in a hungry desperate kiss.

Sasuke poured into the action all the things he had felt while in the hospital. The fear he had unkwongly felt while sitting on those uncomfortable plain chairs next to the blond, hopping with all hope that he would never have to be in such a place, waiting as he was in that exact moment, for Naruto.

Naruto, as well, had felt so many things, had thought and remembered so much. He remembered that time when he and Sasuke, back on their last year of high school, had gone camping with a large group of friends.

They had ended up getting lost and while arguing whose fault had it been, Sasuke had lost his stepping and fell down a hill for a few feet. The blond had never been as scared in his life as he had been when he saw Sasuke's immobile figure at the end of the road.

The kiss became rougher, if that was even possible, as each of them remembered the emotions filling them and trying to take this opportunity to brush them aside and just be content with the fact that they had each other.

One of their cell phones rang, but at the moment they couldn't care less, because all they could care about was the other's lips, the other's neck, and the other's hands roaming through their bodies and underneath the shirt in search of much needed and desired skin on skin contact.

Someone grunted in the kiss, but they were not sure who had it been... probably even both of them.

Naruto didn't even noticed when had Sasuke pushed him against one of the wall, what he did noticed however was the raven driving him harder against the wall as he started grinding his whole body against the blonde's one.

They were both grunting and moaning into the kiss, not very sure of how much far along could they go.

Naruto's hands had by now memorized every crevice on Sasuke's torso as he let them touch and feel on pale hot skin.

Sasuke, on his side, was doing something very similar, though his hands had been a little more daring and had dwelled into farther northern territories, places that his hands roamed over and had the blond squirming nervously as he tentatively touched and caressed with raw need and passion.

The blue eyed man asked himself when would the feeling of disgust will hit him, yet again if it didn't the first time, why would it do it now?

He felt cold fingers tracing lines lazily - a big contract to the rapid and desperate grinding of their bodies - over his navel, causing goose bumps to rise on his whole body and a gasp that sounded a lot like Sasuke's name to leave his lips without his permission.

Did they know what to do next?

Naruto was sure he didn't, but the raven seemed to know what he was doing as he fumbled with Naruto's buttons of his pants and led tan hands to his lower back.

And for the first time in his life the Uzumaki felt fear... He had never really truly experienced fear as he was at this moment.

Was Sasuke going to take it to next base?

The blue eyed man was not sure as to what to do when this hit him.

Where to place his hands? What to say and do? Should he be seductive or was Sasuke gonna be seductive for the both of them? Should he be bold and take the lead or should he allow the other male to do as he pleased? Should he be scared as to what awaited him when they were both finally naked?

Because Sasuke certainly seemed to think so as he started pulling down Naruto's pants.

The blond really wanted to push the other, tell him to stop, tell him he wasn't ready for this. But his will shattered along with so many other things when he felt cold long finger raped themselves around his ragging hard on – when had he gotten so hard anyways? – and a sinful erotic moan escaped his lips without him being able to contain it.

-"I… We should-shouldn't… ahhgg Sasuke!"- the blue eyed man tried to stop the raven, but he seemed to be either deaf or just plain out enjoy too much Naruto's panting.

-"Why?"- asked Sasuke not stopping his ministrations on the other's cock, a smirk plastered on his lips; not that Naruto could actually see it, since the Uchiha was on his neck licking and biting what he could of tan skin, but he could feel it dripping from the raven's voice.

And indeed, why?

Naruto was more than sure he wanted the raven, not only lust and body, but the whole of the Uchiha: his morning moods, his self sufficient bastard smirks, his pale skin, his midnight dark eyes, his unholy hours for working on one of his cases, his liking for CSI episodes, the barely noticeable fat that had gathered on his abdomen because he did not have time to exercised as often as before, the way his teeth so meticulously chewed every bite of food 20 times, as recommended by the doctors, the precision with which he brushed his mouth every night before bed.

The raven felt a tan strong hand pull him forcefully against the blond, action that only manage to fuel his desire and intentions.

There was really not going back…

And the blond knew it as he felt the well known coil on his belly, announcing the oncoming orgasm.

-"I'm… gonna… ahhgg, Sasu… ke! I'm gonna…cuuuum"- moaned the blue eyed man between ragged breathing and fast grinding.

The Uchiha felt a moan escape his lips at the feeling of strong fingers massaging his own clothed erection and he ground much more forcefully unto the strong hand, wanting more than anything to come with the other man.

And come they did… Naruto into Sasuke's waiting hand, and the raven into his tight boxers thanks to the rapid caresses of the blond.

They stood still, still bathed on the afterglow of their physical activities, the reality of what they had done not quite hitting them yet.

Faltering breathing was mixed with the peaceful sound of the ticking of the clock as well as the sound of the dripping on the kitchen sink; sound that had gone somehow unnoticed a few minutes ago, but now it was more than present.

Again the question seemed to hit them both at the same time: Now what?

Naruto felt compelled to say something along the lines of "We just dry humped each other", but he managed to repress that urge by chuckling darkly at the sticky sensation on his groin and the hand that had not quite removed itself from his now flaccid member.

The blond asked himself if Sasuke had wanted him to do something along the same lines to him; but then again, they would have the opportunity to do it again.

And when he caught himself thinking that, he felt surprised to realize that he liked that idea, the idea of maybe improving his "technique", the idea of doing this and maybe something much more intimate with the raven, maybe one day wake up in their shared bed...

'Woah!! Now hold your horses Uzumaki, you're going fast!'- he reprimanded himself mentally as he had allowed his mind to go places he was not quite sure he could go right now.

He thought that now it was safe to assume this was somehow gonna find a way to repeat itself at least once a week... maybe twice... or maybe once a day... or twice... if he found Sasuke in a good mood.

He felt like he shouldn't let himself get carried away by the emotions now coursing through his body as a result of the amazing orgasm he had experienced in the hands - quite literally actually - of the young Uchiha.

But it was hard to do, since said Uchiha was still holding onto his dick and his ragged tired breath was still gusting over his neck, sending shivers up and down his spine, making him feel hardening again.

-"You ready again?"- he heard the husky voice of the other ask him on the hollow of his neck.

Warm breath mixed with the words causing his shaft to twitch and a dark chuckle to escape the lips of the pale man resting against him.

-"Might be"- answered Naruto and upon hearing his voice, Sasuke felt somehow excited all over again.

How could that be?

It was only a voice; but the ragged ring it had to it, reminded Sasuke of why was that way in the first place, and it had a lot to do with him and his pale hand still resting inside Naruto's pants.

-"Nah, we should sleep"- answered Sasuke after a while, when his more composed side came back to him and allowed him to think straighter.

The raven could hear the breathing of Sakura on the adjacent room and wondered if their moaning and groaning had been loud enough as to wake her.

But as the apartment remained still and silent except for their now calming breathing, he decided it was safe to assume Sakura was very much asleep.

-"Take a bath"- said the raven and reluctantly took his hand out of Naruto's pants, wiping the reaming semen on the thighs of the other.

He felt Naruto shiver at the action and couldn't stop the tired laugh that escaped his lips at the action.

-"Hey!"- complained the blond, but it came out somehow less angry than it should have with his voice been husky and rough that it took some of the angriness of the tone.

Their eyes made contact in what could be consider a normal manner, except it wasn't.

Sasuke's hand was still on the blonds' pants and Naruto's left hand was still holding on tightly to the raven's lower back, they had stickiness on their crotch, a constant, wet reminder of their previous activities and their now more composed, even breathing was gusting over each other faces, the smell of sex lingering in the little air that could fit in between them, lips swollen and a light layer of sweet on their bodies.

Naruto briefly considered asking the other male to bathe with him, but restrained himself when he sensed the awkwardness of it all.

They most had been standing there, just looking at each other and avoiding with all their might to think about what this could mean for them.

It was Sasuke who first spoke, bringing them back from whatever place their minds had wondered off to.

-"We..."- his voice sounded somehow broken, hinting the other of fear and incertitude; Sasuke cleared his throat and started again: -"We... like each other, don't we?"- and by the end of the sentence he had sounded somehow unsure, but couldn't help himself from saying it that way.

-"WE do"- answered Naruto emphasizing the WE part as if he could make "this" more real by using that word when referring to them.

-"And so WE...?"- Sasuke looked unsure as to what should he say next.

And so they what? They were LOVERS? Friends with benefits? "Brothers" in an incestuous relationship? Were they even in a relationship?

-"WE..."- repeated Naruto, the same uncertainness dripping from his voice.

They both contemplated what could be said next.

And whatever that might be, it would most definitely sound corny.

-"Yes, WE"- said the raven after a few minutes elapsed.

They could live with being a WE. It didn't quite defined what they were, it didn't classified them into any category and it certainly didn't told them under what grounds they were gonna be moving with each other... But it was a start... sorts off...

The blond briefly thought about it. He had never had certainty when it came to the other, he always had this creeping feeling that someday the raven might leave and never come back...

And now, as he was leaning against a wall, half of Sasuke's weight on him, his hand lazily tracing circles on the other's lower back, it was no different from the past years; but now, at least, he knew the raven had seek him out, had approached him, had cornered him against him a wall and had cut down the other of any escape routes he might have.

So maybe, even if just for a couple of minutes, he could assume, the raven wanted him to stay with him... even if just for a couple more minutes.

-"WE... yeah, we"- finally added the blue eyed man, tasting the words in his mouth and feeling pleased with the sound and the taste they left in his tongue and lips... It tasted a lot like Sasuke and Chai tea.

-"Why do you like coffee so much?"- suddenly asked the raven, causing the other to look at him funny, however a lopsided smile - one Naruto had never seen on the Uchiha - appeared on his lips.

-"Why do you ask?"- responded the blond with a question of his own, feeling like all the invisible tension of the moment lifted from the air around them.

-"You drank like 2 cups of it. You still taste like it"- answered Sasuke and watched how the other's breath hitch in his throat and his cheeky answered died down.

The blond felt weird at the mention of the previous activities; sure it was something quite visible, seeing that his hand had yet to let go of the raven. But so bluntly going about the situation...

-"You taste like Chai"- said Naruto avoiding the other's eyes and asking himself why he should feel shy about it.

-"Do you not like it? I could stop drinking it if you don't like the taste"- answered the Uchiha and watched the other struggle to find a response to the taunting.

The Uzumaki felt hot going up his neck to his ears... Was this Sasuke's way of saying they were gonna repeat this on regular basis? Was this some sort of "Do you wanna go out with me" scenario in which the Uchiha was not really saying it and saying it at the same time?

-"I don´t dislike it. If you like it is okay"- rambled the blond his eyes now locked on the opposite wall in which they were lean against to.

-"What flavor do you prefer?"- asked Sasuke and surprised even himself when he leaned into the blond, closing in the distance between their faces... Just a few more inches and they would be kissing all over again.

Yet again, why not? They could kiss as much as they wanted, couldn't they? After all, they had a WE going on, didn't they?

Yet another ring resonated in the room, bringing them out of their musings and it took them a while to realize whose cell phone was it.

It turned out it was Naruto´s.

-"Hello Iruka"- he answered on his phone, the raven still resting half of his weight on him and Naruto's hand still tracing lazy circles on the other's lower back.

Something was said on the other side of the line, something that Sasuke could not hear, but that had the blond laughing nervously.

-"Yeah, sorry. I was kinda busy…"- and when the blue eyed said this, a faint but very perceptible blush tainted his cheeks and the Uchiha had no hard time figuring out what was the other referring to by "Busy".

-"Yeah… Kinda"- said Naruto after another intervention on the other side.

Sasuke could very clearly distinguished Iruka's voice on the other side, but as much as he tried, he couldn't tell what the other was saying.

-"Yeah, right here… in front of me actually"- answered Naruto to whatever thing the older male had asked and finally made eye contact with the Uchiha.

The raven heard the chipper response the professor gave on the other side while his eyes directed themselves to Naruto's lips, pink and swollen from all the kissing they had been doing.

-"glad… you should… say hello…"- Iruka was saying, but the raven only got to hear snippets of it that filtered in between the little distance that separated both males.

-"I'll say Hello from you"- responded the blond and Sasuke watched mesmerized how those lips moved while Naruto was speaking and then noted the smirk at the end of the sentence.

Iruka started saying something else, but neither of them knew what that have might been…

Naruto leaned into Sasuke, kissing him not quite tenderly but not quite rough… Yet it was both…

When Sasuke noticed the kissed had ended, but Naruto's hand was still resting on his dark hair – and how had it gotten there in the first place anyways? – and a smirk was plastered on his lips… Those same lips he had been kissing just a few moments ago.

-"Yeah, see you tomorrow"- said the blond and hanged up, his eyes shining with a gleam the raven had never seen on those blue like sky summer eyes; he caught himself wondering if that shine had always been there, but he just simply was not looking close enough.

Well, he was close enough now…

-"YOU should take a bath, because you stink"- said jokingly Naruto as his blue eyes roamed all over he pale face in front of him, happy to be able to memorize the details of it while been so close.

-"You stink!"- retorted the Uchiha back and a smile – one Naruto had only seen once in his life – reached his lips and normally dark eyes turned a hue of bright.

-"You're heavy, you know"- commented the blue eyed man offhandedly, the hand on the raven's hair was still holding onto it playing with the little strand of hair on the back.

-"Well, you are comfortable. I might stay here"- answered Sasuke still smiling.

If someone had seen the scene at the moment they would have stopped dead on their tracks.

It looked so surreal…

Naruto's blond hair was messy, as always, and Sasuke's dark bangs were all over the place, the zipper from Naruto's pants was down and the garment had been pushed down as well, only a little, revealing a little bit of tan skin of the blonds' leg.

-"It had always fazed me how do you manage to be so tan even in places where the sun won't reach"- said the Uchiha earning himself a laugh like barking from the other male.

-"And you haven't seen it all!"- answered back the blond not realizing what his words could imply.

But the laughter died down when he felt a hot hand placing itself on his tight and he turned to find dark hunting eyes fixed on the little exposed skin of his tight.

-"You should take a picture of this… The contrast is just so…"- Sasuke wanted to say so many things at this moment, but none of them made it outside as yet again Naruto's mouth cover his with his own lips.

A vibration coming caught them unaware causing them both to jump at the sensation. Someone grunted in discomfort and they had to part the kiss.

-"It better be good or I'll castrate you the old way"- said the deep and harsh sounding voice of the raven and it wasn't until Naruto felt the weight of the other lift up that he realized it was Sasuke's phone that had rang and it was him who was speaking.

The Uchiha walked a few steps away, whispering angrily at whoever might be on the other side of the line. He felt a little sorry for them, but on second thought, not really, after all they had interrupted something rather pleasant.

-"I told you… I don't care… If he… no, but you can…"- Naruto only could hear snippets of it, not like he cared for what was been said, but he felt that it was somehow work related and maybe Sasuke needed some privacy.

Uncomfortably he made his way to the kitchen, stickiness already drying on his crotch, but the wet feeling wouldn't go away… But maybe he didn't really want it to go away; maybe it was a good reminder…

He roamed over the fridge in search of something to eat, now been reminded of what little had he eaten the night before. The sound of the awakening city – it was about 9am – filtered in through the kitchen window that they had forgotten to close last night when they left on a rush.

The same dirty dishes they had left on the sink were still there, but he wasn't sure why had he expected them to wash themselves. They looked kind of lonely on the sink, since it was only a couple of them, but it was better than seeing just one lonely plate waiting on the sink to be washed.

He didn't know why, but his blue eyes travelled over to the living room area where he knew Sasuke was still rambling with someone over the phone and stared longingly in the direction he could hear the cut down voice of the raven.

-"I'm not going! Is my day off and that's final!"- he heard the other yelled into the phone and then the angry closing of his clip cell phone.

Sasuke stormed into the kitchen fuming and mumbling about his law firm and the crazy hours he had to fill in.

-"You should go, I mean is your job"- said Naruto not even believing his own tone, it had sounded somehow angry.

-"I'm not going! Besides your closing is tomorrow, of course I'm not gonna miss that"- retorted angrily the Uchiha causing the blond to stop in mid action; he was getting milk to have a small bowl of cereal, but his hand distractedly let it slip back into the fridge and turned around to see the angry expression on the pale features.

The blond could see Sasuke had not consciously meant to say it out loud, or maybe he had and was just not such a big deal… And then again, why would it have to be? They had always shared this kind of things together; they expected the other to always be there for each other…

Yet, why did it felt somehow different from all of those other times?

… Oh, yeah… They were… together…?

Naruto's blue eyes were glued on the fridge's door in which rested a picture of the three of them on their last Hanami festival over at the park. Sakura had placed it there with a magnet.

-"Sorry…"- mumbled the Uchiha after a moment in which none of them knew what had occurred in their minds…

-"We definitely need to get some sleep, I gotta go to the gallery later on, so…"- Naruto didn't finish his sentence, not like he needed; he knew the raven knew what he meant.

After a couple of awkward minutes, the blond decided to be the first to leave, take a shower or at the very least clean himself up a bit.

But was stopped by a pale body leaning against him… And when had a wall appeared behind him anyways?

Sasuke's dark eyes were saying so many things and Naruto wasn't sure what they were, but felt that it was something important to know and so asked… sort of…

-"Sasuke…"- breathed the blond and reached over to place his lips on Sasuke's.

Maybe sleeping wasn't going to happen for the next couple of hours…


	8. Chapter 8

Okay... sorry...? I know it took like forever to update, but I have really good news!! I have a GREAT beta reader!! She's really good and her corrections were very helpful! So yeah, I hope to be working hard with her! Thanks a bunch S.H. Nina!!! You really helped me a lot with coming up with a better chapter this time...

I hope... hehehehe

So yeah, here it is! Chapter 8... It might feel a little slow, or maybe not, but is one of those necesary thing to do so yeah hehehe

Hope you enjoy it!

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Naruto wasn't surprised to find himself on the living room couch at three in the afternoon; the evening light of the sun filtered through the barely-opened curtains. Sasuke had closed them as they stumbled to the living room.

He heard the running water on the bathroom, the steam of the hot water filtering through the ajar door… Malevolent ajar doors!

He grunted in discomfort when the now-dry cum on his pants caused him to remember his present situation.

And what was that situation, anyways?

He had never been with a man before in his life; sure, he had fantasized about it, looked into it, done his research… But he had never had a dick stuck up his ass, or stick his dick through anyone's ass. Though he was pretty sure Sasuke was the active one in his relationships… if he ever had…

It was confusing that it wasn't confusing.

Shouldn't he feel doubt and regret and have an awkward moment in which he wouldn't know what to do or say? Yet, when with the raven, it had felt so natural and so… what was the word?

He decided that he was too tired to care for that, but knew this was going to come back and haunt him at some point during the day.

Naruto stood from the couch, the springs of the old piece of furniture cringing under the movement.

When the three of them had moved in together, Naruto had insisted on bringing this couch from his house; it meant so much to him. In this couch he and Sasuke had played video games till late hours in the night, Sakura and he had seen a chick flick for Sakura's birthday when her mother had forgotten, Hinata and he had shared their first kiss… and apparently now, Sasuke and he had shared… what had they shared anyways?

-"Agrh"- grunted Naruto confused, messing his bed hair even more.

They had not had sex, had they? Well, yeah, there had been some touching and humping included, moaning and grunting each other names and yeah, well, they had both come but…

-"We had sex…?"- he asked aloud and felt somehow stupid when he heard the echo of his voice ask the lonely room.

He let himself slouch back into the couch, his hand absentmindedly tracing the patterns of the rough fabric. He spotted a stain near the armrest and he immediately recognized it.

It brought back good memories…

For Sasuke's 18th birthday, Sakura and he had decided to give the raven a surprise party… Unfortunately they didn't know back then Sasuke hated surprise parties.

Besides, who is stupid enough to invite over a bunch of adolescents without adult supervision? Back then it had seemed like a great idea, except it hadn't been.

Sai, one of Naruto's friends had brought over a bunch of friends with him, most of them over 21, who had brought booze with them.

Long story short: that stain in the couch was to commemorate Sasuke's first close encounter with large quantities of alcohol.

Naruto couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips when he remembered the incident.

-"What are you laughing at dobe? Going insane already?"- asked Sasuke coming out from his shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, another around his shoulders for drying his hair.

The blond turned around startled by the sound, only to find himself more surprised to find the Uchiha looking all wet and sexy.

-"When did you become so sexy? I always saw your half naked ass pace around the house and now I find it all sexy and hot!"- said Naruto turning around, trying to remind himself that he was supposed to be confused and doubtful at this whole situation.

-"You think my ass is sexy?"- asked Sasuke though it sounded more like a statement and Naruto didn't have to turn around to see the self sufficient smirk on those lips.

-"Shut up! You must have drugged me or something!"- exclaimed the blond, pouting and pulling his legs up to hide his red face from the other.

The springs on the couch gave way to Sasuke's weight when he sited himself next to Naruto, in the same place where the stain was.

-"What were you laughing at?"- asked again Sasuke, his legs opened and the towel around his waist settling in the space in between.

-"You, actually"- finally answered Naruto trying not to look at the raven right now.

Damn it! He was supposed to be confused and run around wondering what to do! He shouldn't be feeling this comfortable around a naked Sasuke while his mind provided very vivid images of what they had done that same morning while standing in that same room.

-"And what exactly about me, did you find so funny?"- asked the pale man tilting his whole body towards Naruto's, his arm brushing against Naruto's.

-"I was just remembering the first time you got drunk"- commented Naruto and tried to look as nonchalant as he could muster while subtly moving his arm away from Sasuke's.

-"Ah, yes. My surprise party"- said Sasuke and inched closer to the other male, but felt him flinch slightly at the action.

It wasn't that he was not expecting some sort of weird reaction from Naruto; he had actually been wondering when the blond would go ballistic on him.

-"You are funny when you are drunk"- said the blond trying to relax his tense stance, reminding himself that this was Sasuke, his best friend, his housemate, his… what?

-"Well, at least I'm not pretending to be a cat and a Japanese one at that"- said Sasuke with mirth in his voice as he inched close and Naruto inched farther.

-"I'll take a shower"- suddenly announced the blond bolting from his seat when Sasuke's fingers brushed his thigh.

The door to the bathroom closed up with a light click, while Sasuke stayed seated on the couch.

He himself was not sure were his words and actions to the blond came from; sure, he had dated men and all, not so openly gay, but gay enough to know where his dick should go shall the opportunity arise.

Yet, he decided he was going to take it slowly with Naruto... but it was just so hard.

He allowed his wet head to fall on the couch's back and let his mind go in all directions; he rarely permitted himself to feel confused or indecisive, but whenever it came to Naruto, it felt like it was always that way...

He was not going to fool himself, he would jump the blond given the chance, but...

Raven hair got messed up when Sasuke stood from the couch and started pacing from one side to the other of the living room.

On the cabinets, walls and lamp tables around the apartment he could see all the pictures they had accumulated throughout all their years of friendship.

The first few of them were pretty awkward and just plain dumb, Naruto barely touching the Uchiha's shoulder, while a grimace that was suppose to be a smile was plastered on his lips, Sakura was on Naruto's other side, looking shyly in the general direction of the raven.

How long had it been? Yet it had not been long enough...

A week from that picture it had been his parents' death anniversary and it had been the very first time he had gone to the cemetery with someone else besides Itachi...

Why had they tagged along with him, till this day he asked himself that question; yet they had been there and he was secretly grateful for it.

There had not been whispered words of support, no cliché _"I'm so sorry for your lost"_ and no _"We are here for you"_; after all, they were already there… Words weren't needed…

He didn't need a picture to remember the awkward, yet gentle way in which Naruto had found an excuse to hug him without it being about his parents... what had it been about anyways?

Something about Naruto feeling cold or Sasuke having something on his back...

Who knew? Did it really matter anyways?

They had hugged, as clumsy as it had been, they had hugged and that night Sasuke found himself spending the night at Naruto's, to Itachi's petition – claiming he was going out of town – after the visit; the first time in years in which he had managed to forget why that day was so important and sad at the same time...

It did feel weird, to have these sorts of feelings towards Naruto, but in a way it was only natural for it to happen after all.

Sasuke let his fingers slide through some of the framed pictures hanging from the wall.

It was sort of an out of body experience to look at his past in those frozen memories...

When had his expression become less sour? When had his lips learnt how to smile? When had his eyes learnt how to really read someone's soul? Whenever that might have been, he was pretty sure it had happened because of Naruto.

He lazily walked over to his room, not really feeling like he wanted to get dressed now. Maybe his trip to the past had taken a toll on his good mood; yet he knew that as soon as he saw the other again all bad memories from the past would be forgotten and he would feel the need to kiss him senseless.

He rummaged through his drawers not really conscious about what he was doing, while his ears seemed to be far more interested in listening to the sound of the house.

Sakura's room was silent and he felt himself smile with true happiness for the girl; she had really gone and found a good man that really deserved her... Unlike him...

So many thoughts were passing through his mind and it was really hard to pick one to think about, yet somehow they all found a way to go back to the blond now showering on the bathroom at the end of the hall.

The ticking of the wall clock was the only sound, besides the rustling of fabric that could be heard; a muffled sound of water running told him Naruto was going to take his time. And he didn't blame him for it...

Maybe it was a good idea to think things over... It was not like he was getting cold-feet or anything, he was just not so sure anymore…

Without really meaning to, he turned his computer on; the sounds of the machine starting kept his mind occupied from going in that other direction he was so desperately trying not to go to...

Yet, why not?

Some lose pants and a comfortable shirt on, he let himself fall on his chair in front of the desk, the glowing screen of his laptop hitting him in the face while he waited for the thing to finish loading. Still trying not to pay more attention than necessary to the sounds of the shower, he tried to refocus his attention back on the screen, his fingers already tipping away his password instinctively after having done it so many times.

He knew there was a report he should be writing, a few of the files he had been going through were scattered all over his normally tidy desk.

His camera - the same camera they had used to take a picture of themselves - lay still on the side of his laptop, as if mocking him for waiting so long to take the initiative...

His hands, moving on their own accord, reached over for the camera. He wasn't sure why his fingers were trembling while turning it on, but they were.

He felt himself try to swallow that lump on his throat that had formed at some point during the time he had decided to look at the picture.

-"Curious?"- asked a voice behind him, startling him.

He turned to find his female friend standing by the doorframe, looking both tired and smug.

He wondered how she could manage to pull both looks at the same time.

-"About what?"- he asked feigning ignorance and trying to pretend he had not been nervous about what was on that camera. He listened in closely for the noises in the shower and found the water was still running.

-"He takes forever, you know"- she said and took one step into his room, but stopped there; she knew it was not a good idea to come in uninvited into the Uchiha's "sanctuary".

-"Yeah, we should charge him extra for the gas and water bills"- said Sasuke turning towards his laptop trying to take importance out of his own words.

Sakura remained silence watching the raven browse through his documents pretending to be busy with something that was not even there to begin with. Yet, Sasuke thought that if he stopped and looked over to the green emerald eyes she would immediately know what had transpired between the two males.

Finally the woman sighed breaking the silence since she knew Sasuke wouldn't and decided to test her luck by taking one step into the male's room.

-"So… you and Naruto…"- she started saying but stopped when dark eyes turned to her, warning her against her next words.

They stood like that in silence, and Sasuke could hear the water being turned off.

-"Are you hungry?"- he asked standing from his chair and walking towards her. Even though discomfort could still be seen in his eyes she was happy to also find concern on those stoic eyes.

-"Yeah, a little"- she answered deciding to drop the subject as she followed the man to the kitchen.

She noticed he slowed down a little when he passed right next to the bathroom's door, but decided to store this for later, when she found an opening to bring it up.

Reaching the kitchen Sasuke opened the fridge and rummaged through its contents, finding a few things to make something light to eat. Sakura decided to enjoy it, and let him care for her as he rarely did it.

The door to the bathroom was opened and the female saw how Sasuke stopped his movements for a second, then continue with the sandwich, a smirk plastered on his lips.

-"Sasuke?"- asked Naruto, his blond head popping on the door frame and he seemed surprised to find Sakura standing there as well: -"Oh, hi Sakura. How are you feeling?"- asked Naruto suddenly feeling all self conscious about been half naked in front of Sakura; yet she saw Sasuke's eyes drifting back and forth, appreciating the other's body.

-"Go get dressed"- said Sasuke and Sakura thought she saw something different in the brief, but very meaningful look the two males shared; but it was gone as soon as Naruto turned around, without presenting much of a fight to Sasuke's words - which in itself was odd enough - and the raven tried to keep to his work of preparing a sandwich.

Naruto's presence lingered, the scent of water mixed with soap still in the air as the door to his room was closed shut.

The woman saw how Sasuke's lips were still up on a smirk, one that intriguingly enough looked a lot like a smile.

-"Did you get any sleep?"- she asked noticing the dark circles under his eyes, but not commenting on it just yet.

-"Some"- he answered curtly and handed her the sandwich as he too, took a bite of his own.

They ate in silence, both of them letting their minds go to places they most likely shouldn't be going to, but how to escape it?

Naruto came out of his room, hair still damp, but his face looked somehow a mix of tiredness and... What was that glint in those blue playful eyes?

Sakura had missed that glow on the blonds' eyes; during the last couple of weeks it had not been there, but now it had come back and apparently with full force if the grin before them was any indication.

-"How about you Naruto? Did YOU get some sleep?"- she asked and to Naruto it had sounded as if she had stressed out the YOU part, but why?

-"Yeah, I did,"- he answered uncertainly, fearing the malevolent glint on her emerald eyes.

Silence settled in between the three as Sasuke handed over a sandwich to the blond – and when had the raven done another one for him? – and they munched silently, unable to find anything to break the silence with.

They all could feel it, almost see it as if there was a pink huge elephant standing in the middle of the room, mocking them and their inability to say whatever they wanted to say.

Sakura tried, but failed, not to notice the subtle change in the air whenever Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes made contact, a small almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of their lips. She could almost hear the lingering words they were not saying out loud, but resonated in her ears in the deaf sound of the things she was never to hear.

-"I'm going down to the gallery, to prepare for the closing"- Naruto started to say and stopped looking at both of his friends; Sakura could tell he was thinking his words before speaking: -"You guys wanna come?"- he finally said and his eyes lingered a little longer on dark ones before turning to Sakura's.

-"Sure"- answered Sasuke lowering his gaze, trying to hide whatever emotion might be showing on his eyes.

Sakura still looked in between the two, not really understanding their interaction and at the same time fearing it… Fearing it might leave her out of it again…

-"I'm gonna head back to the hospital, visit Lee for a while"- she answered; she looked the other way, knowing that if she saw into Naruto's blue eyes she might see an emotion there she was not ready to see. Her eyes fell on the living room couch… The cushions were all over the place and a blanket lay on the floor…

-"Oh, yeah. Well, we can go with you and say hi to Lee, see how he's doing"- said Naruto fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, nervous about something Sakura couldn't quite put her finger on.

-"Sure"- she said as she started making her way back into her room, not sure why she wanted to go there in the first place, but feeling compelled to walk away from the kitchen, from the living room, from the two males that shared words she was never to hear.

Naruto heard the click to her room door, but felt it in his heart as a closing of some sort… And not a good closing.

Blue eyes hesitantly looked over to the raven still standing by the sink and were a little surprised to see dark eyes narrowed in the direction the female had headed off to.

The two of them remained in silence for what felt like forever, but in all reality wasn't much more than a few minutes. On Sakura's room they could hear the faint sounds of her passing and moving about the room, but neither of them felt strong enough to question what she might be doing.

-"I'll go change"- said the raven without a hint of emotion in his voice, but as he passed by the blond, his fingers brushed Naruto's side on his way out of the kitchen.

He didn't hear the click of the door shutting behind the Uchiha though…

He turned around to see, yet again that the door was left slightly open, as if it was an unspoken invitation… Yet he decided he was not quite ready to accept it.

Sakura's own door was shut, the noises inside her room now all but stopped; Naruto couldn't help but wondered if the woman had just made up that excuse to run away from them.

The blond felt his own body move towards the entrance, while his mind took him to places he thought were long forgotten…

He had always hated blood; he could imagine his parents covered in them even though he had not been allowed to see them at the funeral, the coffins had been shut and he found himself not having enough courage to open them and gaze at their loving faces for one last time.

But he regretted that.

He decided, as he saw the two caskets descend to their final rest underneath the earth that he would not run away from anything and he will see the faces of the loved one until the final moment… The final grimace of pain was going to become a reminder for him…

People always thought of Naruto as a happy-go-merry kind of person, nobody had ever imagined he could have dark depressing thoughts about life and death… but he did…

Sakura had promised he would not tell anybody… But when she had walked on Naruto cutting himself on the gym lockers room on a rainy afternoon after classes, they had both allowed themselves for the walls around them to fall…

The next day Naruto had flushed down all his razors…

When he finally reached the door he saw how his hand moved to knock on the wooden surface.

-"Yes?"- asked Sakura on the other side, feigning ignorance, though she had heard the approaching steps and saw the lingering shadow cast on the entrance before the blond had even found it in himself to call at her door.

-"It's me"- said Naruto and when he heard his voice sounding broken he cleared it and tried to find that cheeky smile that was so natural to him; maybe having dwelt on those memories hadn't been the best of ideas.

The female didn't say anything, yet to Naruto those seconds of silence meant so much.

His hand lingered on the door knob and his eyes searched the patterns on the wood as if looking for a sign, any sign of what to say next.

-"You should come"- finally the words slipped out of his mouth and he felt more at ease at hearing the slight more happy tone they carried.

-"I really wanna go see Lee"- she answered after a brief moment and the blond asked himself if she had to think about the answer she had given him.

Why were they speaking through a closed door? Weren't they supposed to be completely open with each other? But they couldn't… not now… not quite yet…

Maybe when Naruto found the meaning of his confusing – yet somehow so right in their own way – emotions towards the raven; maybe when Sakura's own insecurities faded away and she discovered how loved she was by both males… Then maybe the door would open up again.

Until then, they would have to settle with the faint smile they couldn't quite see on the other's face, yet could hear on their voices.

-"Call us"- said Sasuke and the blond surprised himself at not having even flinched at the close proximities their bodies were at the moment.

A silence followed the words and the three of them feared so many things, thought so many things… But none of them made it outside their mouths…

Naruto used his mind's eye to see Sakura's forehead pressed against the door as his was; it made him feel closer to her, even if she wasn't really. The comforting weight and heat of the pale hand on one of his shoulders made him lose track of time and space…

_-"You've gotta promise me you'll never tell!"- said the blond; sky blue eyes searching on hers for the answer she might not be able to give him straight forward._

_-"But Naruto…"- she said nervously avoiding his eyes._

_On the white floor tiles of the bathrooms she could see a few red drops staining the otherwise immaculate cleanness. _

_-"Sakura! You've gotta promise!"- he yelled grabbing for her wrists that had found their way in front of her, as if shielding her from the images, the memories this whole scene conjure up on her._

_-"But you said you were not gonna do it again"- she cried out not strong enough to push him away._

_-"I…"- he started, but his voice wavered and for the first time he felt himself falling apart: -"Don't tell Sasuke… just- don't tell him. He'll think…"- he couldn't quite finish the sentence as they both heard footsteps approaching._

_She could see the panic on the normally joyful eyes as he could now hear just outside the door._

_Sakura pushed Naruto against one of the walls of the lining stalls and pressing herself against him, making a whimpering noise._

_-"Naruto, someone might hear us…"- she said breathy while emerald eyes connected with blue ones in search of a response from the other… any response…_

_-"Don't worry Sakura, nobody comes here"- he answered playing along with her while he thanked her for the escape._

_They heard an intake of breath – probably a surprised one – and then fast retreating footsteps._

_The entrance door was shut forcefully…_

_When they came out of the stall, they failed to notice the backpack that had been left behind… A black one that read _"Sasuke Uchiha"_ on the side…_

Naruto wanted to shake the memories off, wanted the air around him to feel lighter, less stuffy.

Where had that memory come from?

-"Sasuke…"- whispered the blond, his voice broken and tired.

The Uchiha rested his head somewhere in between Naruto's shoulder blades, his hot breath gusting over the little of skin exposed.

-"Call us"- Sasuke repeated, though it didn't sound as a demand or an order, more a request: -"…please"- he added as an afterthought while his hand found its way to Naruto's hand resting on the knob door, almost as if asking him to stop it.

-"Hai, hai"- came the reply on the other side of the door and all of them could sense it without really having to see it… There was a hint of smile on their lips.

The two set of hands resting on the knob twitched with the sudden need to see the woman's face, to see her smile, to see her green emerald eyes… But something inside of them stopped them and the door was left unopened.

Sasuke pulled back, starting to make his way out of the apartment, pulling Naruto along with him.

Neither of them felt the need to say any goodbyes.

When Sakura heard the entrance door click shut she allowed herself to slide on her door all the way to the floor; there were not even tears to shed as she silently promised herself to be happy for the both of them.

The elevator ride was filled with a tension Naruto was not accustomed to, yet couldn't do anything to help it.

When the dinging sound told them they had finally reached the last floor the blond couldn't have guessed that he was going to come crashing against a wall, while his lips were assaulted by the other's eager ones.

Yet it was such a short moment and before he could properly respond, the touch was gone and Sasuke's retreating back was already heading towards the entrance.

A pair of girls passed by him, giggling dumbly at him.

He didn't feel like acknowledging the pang of jealousy in his chest when the girls purposefully brushed past him muttering a coy "sorry" while batting their eyelashes. It was a scene the blond was already used to having witness throughout several years, yet now it felt different…

When he crossed the glass doors of his building, Naruto was surprised to find the raven waiting for him outside.

Their eyes collided and a lot of emotions flooded Naruto and he wasn't sure which one to pick to concentrate on; the barely-there smile on Sasuke's lips, the way the light hit him by the side, hints of dark blue hues on the raven's black eyes, the humidity of the air causing the raven hair to stick and fall in bangs framing his face, bringing out the paleness of his skin.

Why was he noticing these little details about the other male when he normally pretended to look the other way, trying not to see what he knew was there…

-"Let's go"- said Sasuke not questioning the intense gaze the blond gave him and honestly enough, enjoying the attention he received.

It took the blond some time to come back from his self induced reverie, yet he felt happy to find black eyes looking back at him after having taken a few steps ahead.

They easily fell in step with each other, not really questioning why; after all, it had always been that way and it felt as if it was going to be that way always.

Naruto felt this pulsing need to reach his hand and grab for the other… But stopped before his fingers could brush against the pale skin.

Blue eyes took in his surroundings, falling on the people around him.

A couple on the other side of the street were arguing about this and that, while a mother dragged her two children to the bus stop. A good looking man walking toward them made eye contact with him.

Naruto could admit the other man looked nice; even handsome? But it didn't stir anything in him, not even when the other ventured a smile at having noticed the blue eyes on him.

Nothing…

The guy passed by him and their shoulder touched as a smirk graced the other's fine lips.

Nothing…

Sasuke's eyes were still glued to the road in front of him, making Naruto wonder if he had imagined the other man.

The stony features of the Uchiha gave no hint of what he might be thinking or feeling at the moment and the blond found himself in the very familiar situation of asking himself what the other was thinking or feeling.

Words were starting to form on his lips. Naruto could almost see them leaving his lips as he made the last attempt at grasping his own feelings at the moment.

-"I think I'm not homosexual"- he said finally, the words finding their way out of his mouth.

It took him a couple of steps to notice Sasuke had stopped dead on his tracks.

The look of utter shock and maybe anger plastered on the pale face was something Naruto rarely saw on the male and decided to take a mental picture of it, store it away on his memory to have something to look at later that night… or maybe he wouldn't be needing the image at all…

Sasuke saw him, expecting for him to elaborate, almost having to refrain himself to ask it.

-"I'm more like… Sasuke-sexual"- added the blond letting the smirk that had been wanting to form on his lips to finally surface and find its way into the outside of his expression.

The expression on the pale normally stoic face was worth risking a little bit of his manly pride.

It was a mix of emotions neither him nor Sasuke could name or precisely place as his own, yet they were there and there was no way in hell Naruto was going to let Sasuke hide them or deny them. They were there and as stupid as it might sound, it made him happy in a way nothing else had ever made him feel.

Naruto turned around and it took Sasuke only two steps to catch up to the blond as their shoulders brushed together.

The goofy grin they both had went unnoticed to everyone else.

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|123456890'¿°!"#$%&()=?|12345890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡**

If you liked it, please tell me! is always great to go into one's account and see a good review hehehe

Ohhh!! And I didn't mention it at the begining, but

**iluvedo** I love you!! I gotta tell you, your last words motivated me yo work harder on this story!


	9. Chapter 9

Okay so yeah it took me long enough hehehe, but hey I just wanna be able to give you good quality instead of quatity okay?

So I'm feeling like this story is getting complicated all by itself, in my head it was gonna be a happy story, but now is getting angsty, yet I won't let that happen... somehow... hehehe. is just that my characters had seemingly decided to develop a personality of their own hehehe

Many BIG thanks to **S.H. Nina** for helping me out as my beta reader!!! Your corrections are amazing and i really apreciate all the work you are doing for me!! You're amazing!!

And well, here it is, I never really thought it would escale into such a long story, but blah... is already there and we'll se where the hell do this three fellows wanna take this story, cuz I'm ceartently not wirting the thing I wante dto write at first...

Reviews as always are very appreciated, it gives this humble author something to hang on to and the necesary motivation to keep going...

Thanks to all of those who actually take sometime to leave a nice comment, all of you guys have made my day and I apoligize to all of those reviews I haven't answer to, is just iskinda hard sometimes hehehe

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'°!"#$%&/()=?|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/**

-"Sasuke…"- moaned Naruto as he was drove against one of the walls with Sasuke's thrusting hips against his.

This only fuelled the raven's lust and confidence, and smirking into the fierce kiss they were sharing he ventured a hand downwards to start unzipping the other's pants.

A million thoughts were going through Naruto's head, some of them of warning: Sakura could be there in the apartment and she could walk out on them like "this"; others were insisting on his hand moving to Sasuke's own pants and to start rubbing; and still some others were screaming how amazingly good this felt!

The Uchiha wanted to remind himself how he had decided to take it slowly with Naruto, let him get used to the new idea… Yet, when Naruto's tan hands found their way into his boxers, that idea went flying out the window along with the blonds' button up shirt that had been easily discarded by Sasuke's experienced hands.

He could still taste the cinnamon on Naruto's lips from their early brief stop at the bakery.

-"You taste like cinnamon"- whispered Sasuke into the other's lips, parting just briefly for air but then attacking the exposed neck.

He wasn't sure the blond had understand what he had just said, but it wasn't like it mattered much; the only thing that mattered right now was Naruto's hand on his hardened shaft.

-"Do I?"- mumbled Naruto not really listening to his own words as he was to enthralled on the dick in his hand, pulsing with an erotic need of being rubbed hard and rough.

The need was such a strong foe to fight at the moment… and neither of them was really interested on fighting anyways. As they were, it was impossible to stop at the moment. Whatever this might lead to, at the moment it did not matter, because they felt strangely ready to face the consequences of their hands working on each others' clothing, hands ridding them of unnecessary underwear, hands seeking to give and receive pleasure.

It took a minute for Naruto to fully comprehend how or when he had gotten on top of a bed in a dark room; the smooth feeling of the cotton comforter on his bare back felt soothing enough for him to forget all about doubts…

Yet, when he heard the creaking sounds of the beds' springs, it slapped him in the face, forcing him to stop all movements.

-"Wa-Wait!"- stuttered the blond, but couldn't stop the helplessness to drench his voice.

Sasuke's hands, which were now roaming through tan thighs, stopped at the hesitation on the blue-eyed man's voice.

A brief flash of light filtered into the room, showing Naruto how really naked they both were. Theirs eyes collided for the briefest of moments and the Uchiha's hand left the flushed exposed skin of the other as quickly as if he had been burnt by it.

-"S-Sorry… I should not have…"- it was a first for Naruto to hear the other at such a loss of words, yet it felt somehow comforting to sense the doubt on Sasuke's voice, as if he too was feeling nervous and insecure about the reality hitting them head on at the feeling of the mattress underneath them, the sound of the bed hitting the wall on time with their grinding against each other.

They were both panting heavily, the echo of their ragged breath the visible indication of their previous activities… than, and that only; it was all dark and they had not bothered on turning the light on, the outlines of their bodies in the obscure room could be hardly discerned by the filtering light through one of the windows.

The curtains were drawn shut, but little of the outside light made it through the fabric and into the room, not much though.

-"So…"- mumbled Naruto and it didn't surprise the raven one bit that it was that way, since he knew how much the other hated silence, even if it was a needed silence: -"This is…"- he was saying but stopped when he found himself at a loss of words.

Even if he'd tried, he could not have been able to see the other's expression. Sasuke was already sitting by the side of the bed and the blond could tell he was brooding.

-"…awkward…"- finally said the Uchiha after what had felt like the longest silence Naruto had ever experienced, but in all reality it had only been a couple of seconds.

Naruto's mind couldn't find a single thought to concentrate on, it was all so confusing and his mind seemed to be going every which way…

_-"Are you asleep teme?"- asked Naruto hesitantly into the poorly lighten room._

_-"Yes. And stop calling me that…"- answered the raven and then mumbled something that sounded like he was complaining about the Japanese classes his friend had almost "forced" him to take._

_Yet in all reality he knew that, had he not really wanted to, he could have said no…_

_-"No, you are not! You just answered!"- shouted the blue eyed teen, or at least it sounded as shouting in the eerie silent apartment Naruto owned._

_-"That's a reflex act to stop you from talking MY head off"- mumbled Sasuke sleepily, but the blond could tell he was very awake at this point._

_-"I really hate silence…"- whispered Naruto and had the room not been so silent the raven might not have even heard it._

_-"It figures. That explains why you talk so much"- answered the Uchiha, yet his voice didn't have an ounce of anger or mock… it had sounded almost concerned…?_

_-"Okay then! I'll shut up. Geez Sas, you're so mean!"- spat back Uzumaki, all the sudden feeling offended and frustrated._

_Naruto had made an improvised bed for Sasuke to spend the night, since they had been working on their joint science project. They had both agree it was easier if he stayed, convenient even…_

_In all reality neither of them had wanted to spend that night by themselves._

_The blond felt the weight on his bed and could clearly smell the natural scent he had come to associate with his friend._

_-"Sorry…"-whispered Sasuke and Naruto had to strain his ears to hear the other._

Naruto pulled both his legs to rest his chin on them and just then noticed that he was still very much naked.

The silence was eating him away, as seconds turned into minutes and neither male said anything.

Not like there was something that could be said…

Blue eyes could see the blurry image of the human shape seated just a few inches away; the raven's breathing had even out, still there was something lingering in the air that made him feel heavy, as if the air around him would constrict him to death if he allowed himself to breath in the essence that the blond had left lingering on his own skin.

Sasuke's own thoughts were warring over which was more important. Yet his mind kept taking him to the past…

_-"It's about Naruto, don't you care?! I thought he was your friend!"- exclaimed Sakura showing more anger and frustration than he had ever seen._

_-"Whatever you two do on your free…"- he started saying fumbling with the contents of his locker to distract himself from anything else that could reach his mind._

_Surprisingly enough, he was cut off by a very angry Sakura…_

_-"If it doesn't involve you in the equation, you don't care a thing about Naruto!"- she yelled not caring for the surprised looks they both received by their passing school mates._

_It was around 6 in the afternoon._

_Sasuke had had a meeting for one of his extra curricular activities, while Sakura had stayed for a cheerleading practice. Surprisingly the bouncy blond had call in sick that day._

_-"You don't know anything about me and what I care for!!"- answered the raven with an anger twisted expression. Sakura had never seen him like that, so affected, so openly feeling something._

_She stayed put, watching the retreating back of the pale man._

_She had decided to approach him and tell him what was going on with Naruto, but it just simply had not happened the way she had wanted to…_

_It never did…_

Sasuke had never felt like he couldn't understand or read Naruto, he was just like an open book to him; but there he was, wondering what the blond man was thinking, feeling… and knowing he was unable to ask the question.

The blond was not coping much better.

This pulsing need to know what Sasuke was thinking and feeling was normally one he could push aside and pretend it wasn't there to begin with, but not now. Now more than anything else in the world, he wanted to see his mind, see his expression, understand Sasuke's feeling as if they were his own.

-"Turn around"- whispered Naruto voice husky, yet demanding.

The raven's gaze that had been awkwardly looking at his lap, flew up, but he stopped himself from complying to the request. He wasn't sure he wanted Naruto to see his expression of utter fear and loneliness written all over his eyes.

The blue-eyed man allowed himself to follow the lines of the other's profile, clearly seeing the tensing and relaxing of his jaw muscles struggling to get the words out of his mouth.

And he caught himself thinking what those words might be.

-"What are you thinking?"- the blond ventured to ask the question, fearing the answer more than he ever had.

Finally Sasuke let out a sigh, from tiredness or anger, Naruto could not tell.

-"You"- he said, his voice sounded raw as Naruto's own had sounded to him; as he said it, Sasuke finally decided to make eye contact to convey what he was trying to say without words.

Another flash of light filtered in and blue and dark crashed for the briefest of moments before it was again gone… Naruto wondered to himself if he was going to be able to see that expression again on the stoic male, but knew that wasn't likely.

He wanted to say so many things, but none made it out of his mouth as the silence settled itself in between them, bringing with it a series of questions that were never going to make it out, a bunch of feelings that might never be shown and a certain phrase that had yet to be defined.

Again that ticking of the living room wall clock filtered into the room through the open door, reminding both of them of when they had heard that sound before…

Finally Sasuke made to stand from the bed, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, a tan strong hand that just minutes ago had been working on his shaft, trying to bring him to completion, to the edge of a cliff of which he wasn't sure he was ready to jump from.

-"I…"- they both stuttered doubtfully unable to convey anything at all.

Yet Naruto didn't let go of the shoulder and Sasuke made no attempt to push him away.

-"This brings back memories, don't you think?"- finally spoke Sasuke, his question said with a neutral tone, as if it was normal for them to be lying on his bed naked.

-"Yeah…"- mumbled the blond, a small smile already playing on his lips: -"It does"-

_He heard the flushing of water on the bathroom by the end of the hall. He had never liked Sasuke's house, yet in a way he did because he could always play the Xbox over at his room._

_He knew the raven was going to come out of the toilet soon and so he started a new game for the two of them to play. Sasuke was bound to choose the same player, he was such a habit animal, always so predictable, so reliable._

_Yet, when 5 minutes elapsed and Sasuke had yet to make his appearance Naruto started to feel somehow uneasy._

_He didn't like the resonating echoing sound his footsteps made on the empty poorly lighten hallway._

_When he reached the door, his hand moved directly to the knob._

'_Knock'- his mind reminded him as he did so… but no answer came on the other side…_

_-"Hey Teme! You okay there?"- he said, his voice with a small hint of worry, one that others might not see if they weren't listening intently enough._

_No answer… Silence… Only the muffled faint sound of dripping on the other side of the door._

_Naruto didn't even felt like thinking._

_Knocking the wooden door he came in to find the younger Uchiha on the floor, shirtless and wet._

_The water on the faucet was still running and one of Sasuke's hand was still holding onto his toothbrush, the tube of paste still left opened._

_Placing one of his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, he helped the other to pull himself together._

_Neither of them knew what to tell the other; they both felt fragile and words might make the atmosphere break apart, fall into small piece that could be impossible to piece back together._

_-"I…"- they both stuttered at the same time, but couldn't complete the phrase._

_Naruto didn't inquire and Sasuke didn't feel like sharing… Though that nigh they went to bed at 3 in the morning after playing for hours…_

_When they woke up, Naruto found Sasuke besides him on the make-shift bed they had set on the raven's bedroom floor._

They were now smiling at the memory, knowing for sure the other had been thinking about the same thing and feeling somehow at ease by that.

-"Let's get dressed before Sakura actually gets here"- suggested the Uchiha but made no move and Naruto wanted to think it was because he didn't want their skin contact to end.

-"Yeah, because _SHE_ would feel awkward of walking on us like this"- commented Naruto chuckling, his hand was now traveling to the exposed back, fingers unknowingly trailing the bones on Sasuke's back one by one, almost as if they were memorizing the information… It might be needed for further use…

-"I bet she's seen you naked more times than I have"- commented the raven sarcasm dripping from his voice, but it went unnoticed to the Uzumaki.

-"Not really… After all she has never given me a hand job"- answered Naruto and surprised even himself at his boldness.

-"Well, aren't we cocky today?"- chuckled Sasuke darkly and blue eyes could easily see the glint shine on the inky black eyes.

A moment passed in which the paler of the two could not be sure what his companion might be thinking and could only hear the rustling of fabric as he felt the other move from his side.

He felt compelled to say something, anything from stopping the other from leaving, as he thought Naruto might be doing; yet his words died down on his lips as the ones of the other were now pressed down on his.

He was about to make a joking comment when he felt a hand on his hardening cock already working it up and down.

-"Na-Na…ruto…?"- breathed Sasuke trying as hard as he could to not sound needy, yet he realized he had failed when he saw the self-satisfied smirk on Naruto's lips, the same lips that were now going down on his abdomen and still heading southwards to much more sensitive zones of Sasuke's anatomy.

-"I wanna repay you… somehow…"- mumbled the blond as his mouth finally lowered itself close enough to Sasuke's groin. He could feel Naruto's hot breath ghosting over his heated skin and had to stop himself from moving his hand to the blond hair in front of him and push him forward.

Seconds felt like millenniums to Sasuke and all the words and thoughts that could have been playing on his mind went suddenly flying out.

-"Sakura is gonna take a while…"- mumbled Naruto and the raven couldn't hide the shiver that ran up and down his spine at the feel of the other's lips on the tip of his cock.

-"You don't have… Aggghhhh! Naruto!"- Sasuke was very much unable to finish the sentence and any other ideas he might have wanted to share were forever to remain unknown, because the only idea in his head right now were Naruto's lips on his shaft.

He could sense the hesitation on Naruto's actions, but he was known for being a fast learner – not that he was going to tell him that to the face – and was picking up on the "technique" rather fast; actually the faster the better now that he thought about it…

-"Nnnggg…"- one of them grunted and Sasuke hoped it wasn't him, but when he looked down and saw his hand now tangled on blonds' locks – how had that gotten there? – and blue eyes looking at him expectantly it all went to hell.

-"Ahhh! Naruto!"- moaned Sasuke now without reserves and he felt glad he had done so, because this seemed to pump Naruto's ego and push him to do it even better.

The Uchiha wanted to ask himself why was the blond so good at this and why was he so willing to do this if just a couple of minutes ago he had stopped the whole thing and freaked out on him, yet when the blond deep-throated him he simply forgot any other thoughts that weren't Naruto's name.

He could feel the well-known coiling feeling at his stomach, his toes curling and his hands pulling even harder at the yellow-y strands of hair he was holding onto. Sasuke was so close, so close to going over the edge, and he could almost see it at the other side of the bridge.

Yet it suddenly hit him, this was no bridge they were supposed to be crossing right now.

-"Stop!"- he demanded pulling Naruto's hair hard until he was certain the mouth pleasuring him was far enough for him not to be tempted by it.

Naruto's blue eyes were looking at him and just then the raven noticed how raged their breathing had become; he was panting furiously and Naruto too.

He could tell the tan man already trying to form the question into words.

-"You… I was… I was, going to come…"- he said still panting profusely, his hand having moved to his chest in which he could feel the rapid beating of his heart.

-"Well, isn't that the whole point?"- Naruto retorted as if not understanding Sasuke's logic and the Uchiha found it amusing how the other's voice could also have a little sarcasm to it.

-"You're… I'm… Let's just get dressed dobe"- said Sasuke struggling with his own words.

-"Awwww! Sasuke Uchiha is feeling self conscious! This is priceless!"- Naruto singsong dancing around in the darkness, but the raven wasn't paying attention to it – as appealing as the idea of Naruto dancing around butt-naked might be – and made his way to the light switch.

-"Don't turn it on"- said the mumbled voice of the blond right next to him, a tan hand covering Sasuke's pale own that was stopped mid-way to the switch.

-"Why not?"- asked Sasuke and he was more than sure the other could see his smirk.

-"Not yet…"- mumbled Naruto after a few seconds of silence and finally let go of the other's hand making his way to the living room, picking the discarded pieces of clothing from the floor.

Sasuke could faintly make out the other throw himself some of the items, not even bothering to look at them.

-"You know that shirt could be mine. What would you tell Sakura then?"- ventured Sasuke to ask a small smile on his lips as Naruto threw him some boxers and a shirt.

-"I'll tell her I was giving you head, but you didn't let me finish and so I ended up with your shirt"- he said fumbling with the jeans he was pulling over his legs, jumping up and down on his same spot trying to keep the balance: -"How does that sound?"- and he finally turned around and Sasuke was amazed he could see that glint on Naruto's blue eyes through the darkness.

-"Oh, it sounds just great! That way I wouldn't have to explain to her all the moaning and grunting that'll be coming from your room"- joked the raven as he catch the jeans being thrown to him.

The finished the dressing process in silence and the Uchiha was amazed Naruto was even able of such a feature, but grateful none-the-less.

The blond closed into him, letting his arms rest on his shoulders while his hands wrapped themselves around Sasuke's neck; it felt so natural for them to be doing this… and at the same time so wrong.

Sure, they'd spend a lot of time together while still in high school, to the point of having each other's house keys and a few spare change of clothing on the other's dresser. But why did it feel only natural for them to evolve into such a relationship and interaction in such a short time?

Yet when the gleam of a street light filtering into the living room through the closed window allowed Sasuke to see Naruto' blue eyes – eyes that reminded him of spring and summer, of breeze and wind, of quiet peaceful afternoon in the company of a napping blond – he didn't question his good luck anymore and leaned into a soft kiss.

It was the blond who broke it, trembling a little at the proximity of their bodies, remembering what they had been so close to do, but not commenting on it.

-"You're being quiet"- murmured Sasuke, his eyes glued to the other's lips.

-"Am I?"- answered Naruto with a question of his own, he too was very aware of the raven's lips, yet made no move to close the distance between them: -"Well, you're always telling me to shut up"- added Naruto and he let his eyes go to the chiseled pale neck.

-"But I like you better when you're noisy"- murmured the raven and let his eyes focus back on Naruto's lips as if searching for an answer to a question he had not even asked.

Blue eyes grew wide with surprise.

Sure, it was obvious Sasuke liked him in some level, otherwise they wouldn't be having this sort of conversation in the poorly lit living room of their shared apartment, but hearing Sasuke's own voice say something like that... it gave him a fluttery feeling on his stomach and he wasn't sure he was ready to face what that meant. Or maybe he was...

-"So quiet again..."- mumbled the Uchiha but didn't give Naruto the chance to answer, maybe because he was fearing what kind of answer he might get from the blond, but felt somehow at ease, happy even to be able to seal away whatever was Naruto was to say with a kiss.

They heard the quiet footsteps outside the entrance door and immediately recognized them as being Sakura's, yet they were not really ready to break the kiss. So they kept it, even if for just one more second... just one more second.

Sasuke heard the light click from the lock and knew it was time to break the kiss, but was somehow both happy and anxious at the fact Naruto didn't seem to think that way as well.

-"Sakura is here..."- whispered Sasuke into their kiss as he manage to see the filtering light of the outside corridor and knew the next thing the female was to do was to turn the lights on... and find them there... kissing...

When the lights were on, Naruto was already a few steps away from Sasuke, not looking at all concerned or flustered by their previous activities. In fact he sported the biggest grin Sasuke had seen on those lips.

Sasuke found his eyes roaming on Naruto. How did he know those jeans were his and not Sasuke's? Could he see in the dark or something?

Sakura's green eyes were traveling back and forth between the two males, one of them looking all happy and satisfied, while the other looked sort of confused and somehow lost.

The question lingered in the air as Sakura gathered enough courage to ask it.

-"What were you two doing in the darkness?"- she finally managed begging to all divinities in heaven for the hurt in her voice to go unnoticed by the other two.

It did...

-"Making out, of course"- said Naruto surely taking a step towards her: -"What else could two very handsome straights guys could be doing in the darkness?"- he asked playfully and yet Sakura could tell - yet not sure she wanted to repeat that sentence in her head for the rest of the night - he wasn't kidding about that, but somehow he was trying to take importance out of it... It was as if he was saying it without saying it; almost as if asking for her permission to say it. But she wasn't ready to give it...

So she just gave them the most sincere fake smile she could muster and hit Naruto playfully on his shoulder - or maybe it had been a little harder than she had intended seeing Naruto had winced slightly - and making an excuse about having had a very long day at the hospital, made a bee-line to her room, barely giving them time to ask for anything else.

They could tell she wasn't saying something, but somehow right now they weren't ready to try and fix it…

Maybe tomorrow, when she felt better and was in a better disposition. Or maybe when they talked and decided about their situation as a WE… But not now…

After all, if they had kept so many secrets from each other, what was yet another one?

Naruto had had the most horrible night he could remember...

And it was precisely that - remembering - what he'd been doing until the early hours of the next morning.

It had been such a long time since he felt like he was keeping a secret and felt guilty about it, yet he found he couldn't share it with anybody else besides the one involved in it... at least not yet.

Not until they found a name for "it", whatever that might be...

So many memories plagued his mind, bringing back both good and bad feelings.

_-"Naruto, how are you?"- she asked on the cellular and the blond could hear the sounds of cars and conversation as background; she was outside, probably on her way to the mall, as she usually did on Saturdays, with Ino and some other girl friends._

_-"Good..."- he answered unsure of what was she expecting to hear._

_'Maybe something like: cutting myself' - his mind supplied and he couldn't help to chuckle at the morbid thinking most people thought he could not have on that happy-go-merry blond head of his... but there it was._

_Silence and Naruto felt like he should say something, like he owed her at least that much._

_-"I'm outside of your apartment complex; I'm going up 'kay?"- she half asked half stated and he froze in his thoughts and actions._

_-"Weren't you suppose to be with the girls out shopping?"- he said combing his unruly hair nervously; even if he wasn't attracted to her anymore still, no one wanted to be seen with bed hair and probably a bad tired appearance._

_-"You are more important"- Sakura said and the blond could hear her smile on her voice._

_-Thanks..."- he mumbled before hanging up. He barely had time to put something more decent before he heard the soft knocking on his door._

Why were these memories hunting him now?

Sure, that had been a very important part of his past, one that determined a lot of his decisions in his present, but why now?

Was it maybe because it was a secret he had kept from Sasuke, the one and only thing he hadn't told him in their whole friendship?

It was not like the raven told him everything anyways... but this was somehow different.

Why? He couldn't tell what made it so important, but it was.

Even though he was a pretty fast healer, he still had well hidden scars on his thighs and he had not been completely sure he wanted Sasuke to see them just yet.

He wondered if the Uchiha was sleeping calmly on the other side of the wall, unaware of the feelings, memories and thoughts he had awaken on the blond.

But it wasn't a bad thing... it was just scary.

It was one thing that Sakura had known of his life. It was somehow okay to be weak in front of her; but in front of Sasuke he needed to be strong, he needed to be there for him when he needed him.

A dark, humorless chuckle left his lips.

Did they hide secrets from each other?

Did this mean each one of them fulfilled a role in each other's life?

Naruto wondered what kind of secret Sasuke could be sharing with Sakura; he wanted to believe he knew everything about the raven, but he knew than couldn't be completely true...

Sasuke had lots of secrets hidden deep inside him, some of them even Sasuke himself didn't know.

The haunting sound of the tickling wall clock on the living room was the only company and anchor he had to hold onto while traveling to the past.

_-"So you're just not gonna tell me bastard?! Am I not your friend?!"- exclaimed the blond, but was shut down with a look that promised a slow painful death._

_-"A friend doesn't have to know everything about the other"- mumbled angrily Sasuke and then stormed out of the corridor through the near by swinging door at the end of it._

_Naruto followed him close by; he was going to get his answer at any cost._

_-"But a best friend does"- said the blond once he caught up to the Uchiha._

_Sasuke stopped his walking for the briefest of moment, letting his brain digest and process the information... Where they... "best friends"...?_

_-"I'll tell you anything you asked about me"- said definitely Naruto; sure this argument would convince Sasuke._

_Yet Sasuke said nothing, asked nothing..._

_Minutes went by and dark eyes were glued to blue, searching them for a sing, for an answer to a question he had not really made._

_The bell ringed, but neither of them made any move._

_-"I had leukemia"- finally said Sasuke, the words uttered with such calmness yet with such uncertainty, fear almost._

_-"See, that wasn't hard at all"- said Naruto trying to take importance out of the confession the raven had just made._

_And the Uchiha felt sort of grateful for it._

Letting out a tired sigh, he turned to his electronic watch, the red glow of the numbers telling him it was already 4 in the morning, the dawn was nearing and his sleep deprived night was now coming to an end.

And still, he wished he could stay like this just a little longer.


	10. Chapter 10

Okay, I'm sorry is a little shorter and took me forever to update, is just I live a life outside here... and well, is not like there were big spectations or tons of review for me so yeah...

Is sort of dissapointing to not recieve fed back, but I feel awful to ask for it... but guess my little ego needs to be put back on place and remember to be humble when it comes to this.

Thanks abunch to **S.H. Nina**, my lovely beta reader who is being really helpful in the process. Thanks a lot!!! Hope the moving went okay.

So here it is... completely gone out of my hands so don't know how much longer will it be hehehe

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One of Naruto's favorite songs was playing through the speakers while he walked around the packed gallery, greeting and chatting with several people.

He mouthed the lyrics as he absentmindedly waved for a group of friends near one of the collages, actually the one about the scars, and he found himself smiling at the memories it brought back.

Sakura had allowed him – and why, oh why did that sounded like Sakura was his boss? – to chose his own playlist for the night, and he was more than glad about it. The music gave the whole atmosphere a sort of relaxed air to the interactions, more like a party than a closing of an exhibition and the opening of his new "responsible life".

_It's a night of many frightening things to take in  
It's not the way we please ourselves or our friends  
It's what we won't accept  
It's what will scare us now  
Is ourselves, it's ourselves_

He stopped dead in his tracks, realizing how well these lyrics fit him right now. Sure, he had thought about a lot of things: the consequences of his decision and words were always something very present to him, because he knew how much a word or the lack of it could change everything: end it or start it, stop it or put it in motion.

So, as it was, what was he not accepting of himself?

He had always feared that feeling would come back, not liking himself, not liking the fake smile that everyone bought, the fear of not one single person noticing his lack of sincerity, ending up dying alone in his cold small apartment.

-"You okay?"- he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and turned around to find worried emerald eyes looking at him, seeking the true emotions where nobody else could.

He knew Sakura knew, and he couldn't quite lie to her about his real feelings.

Yet were they both ready to tell each other what was really going on?

Naruto could also feel it, there was something off about Sakura's behavior since yesterday; and he had wanted to avoid thinking about it, for fear of what it might mean to him. But now, as he saw her fragile – was she really still fragile? Or it was just him trying to keep that image of her, as if by doing so she would always depend on him and he could always protect her? Was he that selfish? – expression and posture, reached out his hand to her and placed it on her shoulder.

It felt so thin, so small.

-"Yeah. Spacing out I guess"- he answered giving her a reassuring smile, one that she answered with what immediately Naruto recognized as a fake smile.

Again his fear at pointing it out and opening a Pandora box he was not really ready to face stopped him from dwelling on it any further.

Ace Enders's voice was drifting to and end and he didn't know why he felt a pressure in his chest, somewhere near his heart, but let it be for now.

He felt a hand on his lower back and surprised himself at the fact of not having flinched in the slightest.

-"Hey! That's not one of my songs! That's one of your emo songs!"- yelled Naruto at the black eyes that appeared from behind him, the hand on his back resilient to let go, but finally doing so after a few more than necessary minutes.

-"Yeah, I thought you should have a better taste in music"- added Sasuke and turned around to give Sakura a sincere playful smile, one that Sakura had rarely seen on the raven, but that suited him so well.

-"But they don even sing! They just scream!"- countered the blond, looking to Sakura for support in his argument, but she just smiled innocently as if agreeing to what Sasuke had said.

-"You two always gang up on me…"- said Naruto pouting.

Time stopped.

Or at least that's what Naruto would have liked.

This moment, this exact second of time would be one of those memories to secretly treasure in the future.

Just the three of them, in the way it had all started. No complications, no concerns for the world, not having extra hours at the hospital or the law firm, no secrets standing in between them, settling as if they were going to be staying forever.

The smiles on all of their faces seemed sincere and happy in a way they hadn't looked in a very long time… Naruto wanted to believe that, to fool himself into believing tomorrow things would go back to how they used to be… well, maybe a little different, taking into account their newfound "pastime", but things would go back to normal, it had to…

The tune of the song varied from high to low and the blond found he didn't like it.

-"This music irks me. Is just so… depressing"- he said, listening to the piano and guitar mixing into the verse, the female´s voice making it even sadder.

-"People do have the ability to feel something else besides happiness, dobe"- answered Sasuke with a sarcastic comment, yet his voice didn't sound in the least offending and Sakura could easily tell the understanding glance both males had shared.

-"I'm not happy all the time…"- said the blond, but his grin said otherwise.

-"I know you, your laid-back attitude towards life is otherwise known as being happy you know?"- retorted the Uchiha and still Naruto didn't seem at all offended by the comment.

But Sakura did…

-"Naruto is not always happy Sasuke. He's a human being, you know? He's capable of feeling sadness, maybe even more so than you and me"- she intervened into the conversation having felt left out.

The three of them shared a shocked expression, but each for a different reason, unknown to the others, and it would remain as such: a secret never to be told.

-"Naruto! Congratulation! This is just great!"- the three of them heard the voice that brought them out of their reverie.

Naruto turned around for the umpteenth time this night to find an old friend.

-"Kiba, man! Long time no see!"- he said greeting the new comer.

After that the three of them parted ways, going in different directions to greet other acquaintances.

Yet the feeling lingered for the rest of the night.

The conversations he had during the night were all blurry in his memory as the end of it drew near, cut down words, praises being thrown at him as he made his way through the room… And he could only see Sakura's green eyes, eyes that had always reminded him of green fields in the summer; and Sasuke's inky eyes that always made him think of the winter nights he spent under all those blankets, finding in them the warmth he could not have from a paternal embrace.

All his thoughts were brought to an end when he was asked to give his final speech.

Another song from one of his favorite groups was playing, and the volume was lowered, but he could still hear it clearly.

-"Well, I've never been good with speeches"- started the blond scratching the back of his head on that goofiest way of his: -"But I do know some good jokes. So there's a…"- he started saying but Iruka appeared behind him, whacking him in the head.

The room broke into laughter.

-"Be serious"- mumbled the older male, giving him one of his warning parental stares.

-"Okay, I'll be serious"- added Naruto jokingly while again his hand moved to the back of his blond head: -"To be completely honest, and I know this is gonna sound so cliché, but this could not have been done without your help. Many of your offered to pose for me and helped me out with ideas"- he said turning to look at Iruka, whom smile at the gesture, and then blue and black eyes collided for the briefest of moments, saying without anyone else noticing, what they had wanted to tell each other.

Naruto's eyes searched in between the small mass of people gathered in the gallery for light hair, one that almost looked pink, and emerald green eyes, eyes of the spring, but as he jumped from eyes to eyes, he was surprised to see he couldn't find her.

He stood there in silence longer than necessary; but something in his heart told him he was not gonna be able to continue until he saw her reassuring smile and comforting sparkling eyes.

She was in the bathroom; he had to believe that as Sasuke's midnight inky eyes fell on his.

-"What I'm trying to say is thank you!"- he finally said, giving the brightest smile he could muster from the very bottom of his heart.

Everybody then surrounded him to congratulate him, asking him about upcoming projects and such.

And so neither Sasuke, nor Naruto were able to notice the woman leaving the place, following a suspicious looking man.

_Now walk through the door, the same one you came in, so we can go back, to how things used to be,  
And just walk through the door, the same one, you came in, so we can go back, to how things used to be_

That night, when only the two of them went back to the apartment, they waited for Sakura's returned.

She arrived at 7am the next morning to find both males lying on the living room couch, again the comforter and cushions in disarray.

When had it become so complicated? Naruto asked himself as he contemplated the cracks on his bedroom sealing, the earplugs of his iPod blaring music he wasn't even really listening.

It wasn't really his forte to brood and be emo, that's what Sasuke did best.

Yet, on second thought, he might be even more emo than the Uchiha if he really tried hard.

The echoing of his laughter was the only sound making him company at this moment, and he felt so at ease to be able to laugh it off, to make fun of his past mistakes and learn from them.

But did it all have to look so hard? When had it transformed into a complicated thing?

He liked things simple in his life. He liked his coffee dark, he liked orange juice, he liked scrambled eggs, he liked plain patterns, simple ideas of love and hate, sad and happy, black and white; but then all of the sudden the rest of the colors had found their way into his vision and he wasn't sure if he should push them away or keep them.

And was he using colors as a metaphor? Who did that? That was lame! He was no fucking philosopher! He was a simple-minded man that had wanted to wake up to the same things for the rest of his life.

But he couldn't deny he liked this newfound thing to wake up to.

Sasuke's warmth encircling him was something he could definitely get used to.

Why did people make life complicated?

He had always promised himself to make his life as easy and honest as he could. He would speak his mind, expose his feelings and thoughts out in the open for people to see them, he would never go back to that dark room that could be his cold lonely mind, he would let people know when he was feeling something, he would...

Yet he knew he had not been really doing so.

He was always thinking of others, of not imposing his issues onto others, resulting in him shutting himself down again.

Yes, he was definitely more emo than Sasuke had ever been.

Well, that is, as far as he knew.

He still had to figure out what other secrets there might be in between them; he had to believe there were at least one or two on Sasuke's behalf, that way he wouldn't feel as exposed when his turn to open to the Uchiha might come.

Because he was going to do it, he had already decided, to push himself to take one last breath and take the plunge into dark unknown waters, that he hopped weren't as cold and lonely as his own mind.

He was afraid and confused, or at least he wanted to convince himself that he was...

Yet if he really saw inside himself, he would find out he really wasn't that much, he was actually rather... how to say it? Comfortable? Happy? Joyful? Enthralled? by the turn of the recent events. And sure, who wouldn't be, the raven was one hell of a great kisser - and he was sure to tell him just that next time they made out, he had decided - and had an amazing ability with his hands.

And still, that nagging in his head, kept telling him he shouldn't be feeling such at ease, so comfortable to be able to fall so easily asleep on Sasuke's warm embrace. But he was honestly against hearing that voice at the moment.

One of Smashing Pumpkins' songs was now playing, actually one of Sasuke's personal favorite, one he had been forced to hear for the majority of the road trip they had taken on their senior year at high school.

Those were good memories.

They had had to promise Sakura's mother to take good care of her and had even been forced to bring along Sakura's annoying neighbor, Ino - another one of Sasuke's fan girls - but at the end it had all been so worth it.

Why had Sasuke suggested the trip? Well, it was a mystery that was to remain unsolved to Naruto, since it seemed to have been arranged by the raven and his other best friend Sakura, and had been put together by the two in less than two weeks.

It had looked to him as if they were in a rush to leave the city - not like he himself was very eager to stay for the long boring summer after their graduation - but who was he to question good luck?

They had all been in such a good mood, laughing, exchanging secrets and funny anecdotes; it was one of the best memories he could cherish in his heart.

But the best part of the trip had been the silences, the moments in which nobody felt like they had to say anything, because what else was there to be said?

They had said too much to each other and yet so little, there would always be something to learn from the other, but while in those silences it felt like it was okay not to know everything, like it was great to be able to have secrets only for oneself, something that would be great to find out with time and some preying.

When the last string of the guitar ended, so did the reminiscence...

Naruto sighed and made to stand from his laying position on his bed.

Again, last night he had spent it at the couch and the blond often wondered to himself why was it that Sasuke hadn't offered his bed or asked to be taken to Naruto's, his neck was hurting and his back aching, yet the feeling of waking up to Sasuke next to him was worth the trouble.

As he made his way to the kitchen in search of something to eat, his mind wandered to another concern: Sakura.

People always believed him to be just not very attentive; but he had somehow seen it, sensed it in a way. Something was going on with Sakura and neither she nor Sasuke wanted to tell him about it.

He didn't blame them, he just couldn't; he had his own secrets. But still it made it feel somehow left out… Like back in the day…

_Hushed voices could be heard at the end of the hallway and Naruto could easily recognize them as being his two best friends._

_Yet, there seemed to be an air of secrecy going on about them for the last couple of weeks._

_Sasuke would disappear for a day or two and so would Sakura; and when they came back, they exchanged this knowing looks between the two, and it just irked him!_

_-"You haven't told Naruto about it, have you?"- he hard Sakura's voice ask in that conspiratorial tone he had come so accustomed to._

_-"Of course no!!!"- came the outraged reply on the raven's behalf._

_Something on Naruto's stomach dropped, but made him unable to move._

_-"Great then! Let's keep it our little secret"- she said and to the blond her voice sounded disgustingly seductive._

_-"Yeah… I don't want him to know… just yet… He'll freak out on me"- added Sasuke with a chuckle and Naruto found it sort of dark and cynical._

_-"No… he doesn't ever need to know…"- said Sakura after a long moment of silence that was followed by the infinite sound of footsteps retreating._

_The next two days the two of them missed school._

Naruto wasn't one that liked to think of only bad memories – at least he was not anymore – and so he tried to shake it away, taking a long swig of his orange juice; as if the citrus would help him flush down his throat that uncomfortable feeling of being left out.

It didn't…

How had it all started? It was like an avalanche was coming his way. He had never been good with changes; he just didn't cope well when he felt tense.

He feared he might get into old habits again…

But in a way he had been the cause of such a big change. He had been the one to blame for Sakura's new strange behavior; he was to blame for Sasuke's constant distraction at work, forcing him to do extra hours.

He hated wallowing in self-pity…but it was something he could not help doing… everybody has their own weakness, always tripping with the same stone.

And so he walked to the bathroom.

It was all so complicated and at the same time it wasn't; it could be as easy as to ignore it. Yet he couldn't

Sasuke kept razors in his drawer at the dresser in the room…

Sasuke was downing his third cup of coffee of the day and it was only midday.

He saw the blinking green light of his closed cell phone and felt tempted to phone Naruto and call it a day; but he knew that wasn't do-able. He had sort of neglected his work for the better part of the week and now that it was drawing to and end, he realized how much work had piled up and had to be finished before Friday.

He sensed more than saw the person entering the meeting room, where he was currently working, surrounded by several piles of folders and loose pieces of paper. An ashtray lay next to him and was overflowing with cigarette butts, that surprisingly enough had all been smoked by him; he had quit a few years ago, back at the beginning of college.

-"Give it a rest Sasuke, you've done more than a week's worth of work already"- said the blond woman that entered.

-"I'll just finish this up"- he mumbled flipping through some of archives on their more recent case; an entire building was suing a young man, whom they claimed was a junkie and a mugger, they had no proof but their twisted morals and their intense dislike for the boy had driven them to seek a lawyer.

He, personally, thought the guy was innocent, but he was just paid to do his job, not to voice his own opinion.

When the light sound of the door clicking shut was heard, he let himself fall back on his chair and look at the side to find that she had set a muffin for him at the far end of the desk. He smiled and reached for the bread, munching on it while going back to his work.

He absent mindedly reach out for the pack of cigarettes that lay near by the ashtray and fishing one out, lit it up and brought it to his.

He had smoked too much over the past two weeks, more than he had done so over the past years.

Yet he knew it would never as much as he smoked back in the day.

The smell reminded him of so many things; some of them, he was more than willing to forget while others he wanted to have them very present as if not to make the same mistake again…

_-"Sasuke…?"- he heard the well-known female's voice on his back and turned around to find something completely different to what he had come to associate with the voice._

_-"Sa-Sakura? Is that you?"- he felt himself stuttered, but couldn't help it. This woman resemblance nothing to the innocent looking girl he hanged out with at the school._

_-"Guess we all have our secrets…"- she said cryptically while a shady looking guy snuck up a hand through her slim waist. A fake smile plastered on her lips, she was pulled away to the section of the club that was know for been the favorite hideout for junkies._

He should have stopped her, he should have said something, anything, back then; but he hadn't and that would be something he was doomed to carry around for the rest of his life.

He put out his cigarette, not having finished it even. He knew that when he got home Naruto would call him on the smell, but he just needed a break from all the tension that had building up during the past week.

Sure, happy-go-lucky Naruto hadn't noticed yet – or so he hopped, because after all he had promised he would take this particular secret to the grave if he had to, and an Uchiha is a man of honor – but there was something odd going on with Sakura's behavior as of late and he feared to know the reason as to why.

For the first time in his life he really strongly desired that none of his suspicious were real. But all the signs were there and it would unwise to not do anything about it.

But he would keep it a secret, no matter what, he at least owed her that much.

The room was hot, after all it was the beginning of June by now, so the weather had take a turning to the higher temperatures; yet Sakura would not open the window nor draw the curtains open to let a little light into the stuffy room, she just couldn't.

Her little motel room with private bathroom smelled like all kinds of things, alcohol mixed with tobacco, as well as the smell she had come to associate with colors and happiness; though at this time it didn't necessarily meant that.

She could hear the speeding cars on the highway just outside the motel parking lot, but that somehow didn't register in her doped up mind.

She made to stand from her laying position on the broken bed; the sheets were all crumpled and the pillows had been thrown all over the room and the TV was on, not like she was really watching, but she used it as a background noise, to somehow scare away the empty noises of the lavender walls.

The faint sounds of moaning and grunting came from one of the rooms besides hers, probably a horny teenaged couple that had made their way here in the middle of the day and couldn't even wait for the shelter of the night.

There were lines of cocaine waiting for her on the crystal table by the room's entrance; she had also gotten her hands on a crack stash.

She wasn't even sure why she was doing this anymore; in the past it had had a lot to do with her family situation, her father had died and her mother had somehow lost it a little bit in the process and so she ended up alone to handle with broken shards and unable to come up with a way to glue them back together.

She had never liked gloating on self-pity, but how can you expect for a twelve year old to make everything okay again? Her mother had set a very high standard, one that soon enough she realized it was impossible to reach… And maybe that was why her mother had set it high, so she could never reach it, so she could never be fully happy…

She chuckled darkly at her own musings, finally standing and stretching before making her way to the table. Kneeling in front of it she grabbed one of the straws at the side of the table and made to inhale some of the drug.

The couple on the room next door was now getting more vocal, but she wasn't even listening anymore, she was already traveling to happier places, places that were darker and reeked of toxic fumes, alcohol and sex.

_There was a girl half naked near the entrance, laying on the floor mumbling to herself some memory of her own… Sakura knew how that felt._

_The whole scene should have somehow bothered her, yet she was already very used to it; Sakura knew she would be that same girl in just a couple more hours._

_-"What can I get you my princess?"- asked the male she was coming with; he was known in this underworld territories with the name of Sai, but she was pretty sure that couldn't be his real name._

_Sai simply didn't existed; he could only be found when he wanted to be found, contacted when he felt like it, talked to when addressed to._

_He also had a large entourage making it almost impossible for people to reach him._

_But she had…_

_It didn't matter that he used her and treated her like crap, it did not matter either he had lots of fishy business going on. _

_What mattered was that people was looking at her! She was the "princess" of this made up palace of lust and ruin._

She couldn't recognize the white ceiling she was currently staring at, not that it would make any big difference anyways; as she was right now nothing really mattered…

Her mother was right; you could find happiness in a pill…

Or in her case, in a line of cocaine.

Sakura saw blue eyes looking at her, not reproaching anything, not asking anything; just looking at her, really looking at her. And as if reading her soul, they would smile- because in her drugged mind, eyes smile – and tell her how beautiful she was, how perfect she was.

Then those beautiful blue eyes would turn into the summer skies, would turn into the sea, and would turn into a tan blond man telling her how much he loved her.

She laughed hysterically at her own fantasies; apparently it didn't matter how high you were, you just couldn't lie to yourself…

She was in love with Naruto and he was in love with Sasuke… not her…

-"Not me…"- she mumbled and at hearing her own voice, broken and husky she couldn't stop the tears from escaping her emerald eyes.

She was just a complete monster!

She had an amazing man, one that truly loved her, not only for her personality but her as a whole; she was worshiped by Lee… And still, she wanted to open her eyes and clash with blue ones staring at her with loving passion.

Instead, those eyes would wake up to meet dark ones and smile – like she had always dreamt he would look at her – and lean in to kiss pale lips.

She didn't want to hate Sasuke… But she did…

-"I'm a horrible person!"- she yelled and strength she didn't know she had she grabbed one of the near by chairs and threw it at the door.

She knew she could tell Naruto what kind of person the Uchiha had been back in the day… The kind of perversions Sasuke had been involved in and how she had been a witness to them all.

Yet, then she would have to explain why she had also been there to begin with…

She wanted to be happy for the two of them, she really did.

She had come to accept the fact that Naruto would never see her as anything else but a sister, the best of friends, and nothing more…

And so the only thing she could do was just go back to running away… that, she knew how to do.

She heard a light knock on the door, maybe the manager.

She made to stand with a tired grunt; she wouldn't be able to come back to this motel, she would need to find a new one.

The clock on the nightstand read a quarter to one. Maybe she would make it back in time for a quick shower at the hospital and the start of her shift.

The knock on the door got more insistent as she quietly packed her junk trying to clear her mind of that foggy feeling the drugs left her.

-"I'm coming!"- she shouted exasperated, shoving on her pack a few clothing items she had brought with her sending a glare to the door wishing her eyes could stop the banging, it was irritating.

-"If you broke something you're gonna have to pay for it!"- yelled the male's voice outside the door while he repeatedly continue to bang the door.

-"Yeah I will, damn it! Now leave me alone!"- she yelled angry, the banging stopped for a second or two, to start again with more intent and desperation.

When she finally managed to pack all her stuff, the loud banging never once ceasing, she stood storming to the door, opening it angrily.

-"I fucking told you I was gonna pay…!"- but she stopped in the middle of her tirade.

Dark eyes stood in front of her.

**°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890¿°!"#$%/&()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?|1234567890'°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?¡|1234567890'¿°!"#$%&/()=?|1234567890'°!"#$%&/()=?|1234567890'**

If you liked it, please tell me.

And if not,please tell me too so I don't waste more time with this fic...


	11. Chapter 11

Okay so I know I took forever to post this and I also know is really short hehehe, but I promise the next one will have smut on it I promise!!

Thanks to **S.H. Nina** for the super awesome editing she did on this chapter and for being so pacient when it took me forever to finish this up

Thanks to all the people faving this story, I really appreciate it! Is because of those messages on my mail that I tryed my hardest on this chapter... not necessarily succeding hehehe, but I did try and I'll keep trying to improve a lot more and come up with a better chapter each time.

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_The hushed conversations resonated in the otherwise silent room._

_He wanted to believe he was young, but he wasn't... _

_He had somehow grown old, grown tired of life._

_Had it all started that rainy day __in__ August? Was that day in which he had to look into the coffins of his parents that he had started to move towards loneliness and depression?_

_Or had it been any other time…?_

_He turned around to see what he normally thought to be green like spring fields eyes now changing into autumn; leaves falling and chilly wind blowing on now dying eyes._

_And then dark haunting eyes, the color of the clear nocturnal skies of the winter night turned colder than glacier winds, barren lands with no stories to tell._

_He could not hear a sound as lips moved in front of him, shouting almost, he could sense it, but not hear it…_

_Thump, thump, thump… The slow beating of his heart was the only thing that reached his ears._

_It was deafening…_

_And a contrast to the actual fear he was feeling; his heart should be speeding, pumping blood throughout all of his body, pushing him to move, to run, to seek for shelter, but it didn't…_

_He heard his own dying voice calling out for somebody, anybody… _

_Everybody, the entire world was fading into dark and cold, but he wouldn't, couldn't move. A sea of red surrounding him, everything was so red, so red… And in a sick way it was so soothing, it would all end soon…_

He woke up gasping for air, looking for red around him; finding nothing but the faint light of the sunset light filtering through the curtains.

The living room was silent and only the erratic breathing could be heard.

-"What the fuck was that?!"- mumbled Naruto surprised, still looking for something else to concentrate on that would help him come back from his frightened stupor.

He tried to concentrate on the slowing of his breathing, the calming of his accelerated heartbeat and the erasing of the haunting images.

Footsteps could be heard, muffled conversations in adjacent rooms filtering in through the thin walls.

Yet Naruto failed to hear the click of a key on the lock and the sound of the door being opened startled him once he turned around to see the one entering.

Green and blue collided…

They could both see it in their eyes, there was something lingering in between them, some dark secret never to be told was standing mockingly in between them pushing them even farther apart.

-"Na-Naruto…?"- asked Sakura calling out his name with a broken voice.

The blond had not realized how long had it been since he last heard her voice until he had heard it again.

-"Sakura, hey! Long time no see! How is old Lee? "- he asked trying to ignore the pang he felt somewhere in between his chest: -"We've…" - he stopped himself when he heard the "we" echoing through the room: -"I've been thinking to going over to visit"- he chatted on, pretense was once one of his fortes.

-"He's doing… fine"- she answered dumbly, not really caring anymore.

How would she know how he was, if she had made everything in her power to avoid seeing him? It reminded her of her own mistakes, of her own stupidity. Here she was, being worshiped by Lee, an amazing man that truly loved her and…

-"Great! I'll go see him sometime soon"- answered Naruto and Sakura could sense he was forcing it, trying to hide something. He sensed her hesitation, but again deciding to remain a coward, he didn't ask her anything…

But, wasn't she doing the same thing? She would not call his bluff in fear of having hers called, she still had some things to sort out… it had been quite an eventful evening, trying to chase away the past that had finally caught up to her.

But it was okay, it was finally okay. She would just accept it for what it was, the perfect escape route.

She wouldn't even need to hide it, they would be too busy to notice.

Green eyes fell on the mess at the living room's coffee table; spread about were pictures from their Hanami in April, smiling faces, toasts and food… and in the middle, a picture of a smiling Sasuke…

Naruto followed her eyes to the mess on the living room table, smiling at the memories, allowing himself to forget, even if only for a moment, the roughness that now resided in her eyes, the complete opposite to her smiling emeralds on those pictures.

It felt like an eternity had passed in between them… but it had only been a couple of minutes.

He was about to say something, anything that could come out of his mouth to scare that oppressing feeling; but instead a ringtone could be heard from her purse.

She perused nervously through her bag, casting shy glances at Naruto not saying what she wanted to say, but he could see it in her dulled eyes.

-"Hello?"- she answered already walking away from the blond male.

Naruto chose not to acknowledge the pang in his chest as she moved from the living room area to her own room, already giggling as she opened the door.

It had sounded like a male's voice on the other side of the line, but who could get a giggle and a poorly hidden blush from her cheeks with only a few words? It couldn't be Lee, could it? Maybe it was, but, they had just seen each other a few moments ago, before she left the hospital, had they not?

Maybe he was trying to read too much into her actions...

He turned around to see the wall clock read 9:27pm.

Sasuke shouldn't be long and since Sakura had made it back just a few minutes ago, he could guess they could enjoy a shared hasty meal, like they usually did.

She looked at him, really looked at him, as she had wished to do in such a long time.

Her hand on the phone speaker while she formed the phrase in her head.

-"I'm tired honey, so I'll get some rest now"- she chanced a blatantly fake smile and noticed blue eyes look away from it.

'Guess he doesn't really care'- she thought to herself, fake smile still plastered on her lips.

Never had a sound been so deafening to his ears as the sound of the door to Sakura's room and he had this ominous feeling this might have been the last chance he would have to come clean and confront her about her late attitude.

But he didn't…

Laughter - one he had never heard from her - came from Sakura's room and he fought the jealous feeling he got. It was odd to have those sorts of feelings, since it had been a long time ago that he had forgotten his crush on her.

His feet finally moved, unconsciously taking him to the kitchen.

He sighed guiltily and leaned against the fridge.

He could always blame the cut on his upper arm as a kitchen accident… as long as Sakura didn't see it, he was sure Sasuke would believe it.

And another wave of guilt invaded him.

He had not pried on her odd behavior lately in fear of her finding out about his relapse…

That thought felt strange in his head, as if it didn't belong there.

And it felt as if he were talking about drugs of some sort. It wasn't a drug, it wasn't anything bad… But then again, why hide it? Why had he not come clean about it?

He had decided after some questioning with his inner self that Sasuke didn't necessarily need to know about this.

Besides, he did it only every once in a while, only when he was more stressed out.

Everyone had their quirks right? Everyone had his own way to deal with stress and it was just that… And why, oh why did it sound like he was justifying himself?!? Because he wasn't! He did not need to justify himself.

He was just trying to relieve a little stress; nobody could blame him for it!

The ticking wall clock kept him company for what felt like an eternity as he sorted through his conflicting emotions and thoughts.

He gazed into the fluorescent light of the fridge, not really sure why he had opened the damned thing and more than certain that he was not going to find anything inside the now mostly empty fridge.

He had not made any shopping lately, mainly because he had spent most of his free time making out with Sasuke and the rest he had been trying to figure out what to do next with his life.

Normally the three of them would do the shopping together, always finding a moment to do this menial everyday activities; but with Sakura behaving odd most of the time and actually avoiding the apartment like the plague – Naruto avoided the thought of her actually trying to avoid THEM – and both him and Sasuke trying to figure out how to tell her without actually talking about their WE situation, really the prospect of having a normal day looked appealing right now.

He grabbed for the remnants of orange juice, not really because he was thirsty, but because he wanted something to distract his mind with.

When had his life become so, well, it felt like a fucking crappy soap opera!!!

He tossed the empty container to the trash-can and wearily eyed his wrists.

He had had a moment of true; again…

It was all so fucking messed up right now! Everything seemed so out of place. Naruto had just wanted a normal life.

But no! Everything had to go and get complicated!

He growled in frustration at the thought that he was going to have to come up with a lame excuse to hide his wrists from Sasuke, which caused him to think of another kind of frustration he was going to be having.

He had thought in the past he might be an odd ball, but hey! Everyone has his quirks!

Some people did drugs, some alcohol… He just cut himself.

The sound of the front door lock made him make the unconscious move to hide his maimed arms, nervously making his way to the kitchen doorway.

He found himself shocked, for some unknown reason, to see the other two people standing there.

Both the entrance and one of the room's doors were opened and on the threshold of both stood Sasuke and Sakura.

Three sets of eyes clashed in that instant…

The three of them had unreadable expressions plastered on their faces; it wasn't surprise nor liking, but what Naruto found most disturbing was that there was nothing, not a single trace of anything on their faces, not even on his.

It was as if three strangers were coincidentally standing in the middle of an unknown room.

And it gave then all the eerie feeling of standing in the middle of nowhere in front of strangers; because, honestly, what did they know about each other?

-"I'm… home"- mumbled Sasuke, not sure of the heavy air around them, but feeling as the other occupants of the room.

Green, blue and black made an odd combination while they stared at each other not sure of how to follow up.

-"Welcome… home"- ventured Naruto, while Sakura stood still; her expression unreadable and hey eyes lacking any kind of feeling, sort of lost in the past and without any intentions of coming back…

Perhaps that's exactly what she was aiming for…

Naruto wanted to say something, but the overwhelming feeling in the room suffocated him as if smoke was lingering around them.

This oppressive feeling of loneliness was more than he could take.

He leaned against the wooden doorframe to the kitchen, his eyes finally breaking contact with green and black ones, thus missing the pointed exchange Sakura and Sasuke had.

-"I'm going out"- stated Sakura; her voice sounded off, vacant, not hers.

-"Where? You just came in!"- and for the first time, the three of them were surprised to find Naruto calling her bluff from his spot; his body in a weird position, it almost gave the feeling of being broken, and Sasuke had this strange feeling that if she didn't answer he might, indeed, break.

He took two tentative steps towards the blond, but stopped himself when he saw something awfully sad and needy on the normal sky-clear blue eyes.

-"Out"- she finally answered after what felt like eternity, like a millennium had passed them by and make them incredible old and tired.

-"Out where?"- this time it was Sasuke's strong voice that resonated on the living room.

-"Out of this place, out to the park, out to the movies, out. You take your pick"- she said condescendingly looking down on the younger Uchiha, something that Naruto had never seen her do before. Sasuke, on the other hand, had.

-"You're hiding something Sakura"- said Sasuke, gritting his teeth in irritation.

-"Well, so are you"- she said while eyeing him pointedly, and turning to Naruto she added: -"We all are, I would say, right Naruto?"- and an uncommon sideways smile formed on her dry lips.

The three of them felt suddenly out of their own beings.

It wasn't like Sakura to say such a thing, but somehow the words had made more sense than anything else had in a very long time.

-"Get out of here!"- commanded Sasuke breaking eye contact with her, dark hard eyes glued to the wall in which rested the picture of their last vacations to Miami. They had planed that trip for months...

-"Fine!"- she answered, angry at him, but maybe even more angry at herself. She was afraid to see the deepest sadness in the baby blue eyes and so she avoided them as she made her way to the entrance door, tears already welling up on her eyes.

-"Wait Sakura!"- she heard the hint of need on that voice, the same hint of need she always had wanted to hear on it; but for some reason, now that it was finally there, she didn't want it anymore.

Her hand reached for the doorknob at the same time a tan hand pulled her by the arm.

On the other side of the now opened door, deep pools of darkness stood there, void of any emotion or feeling, void of life or even fear.

-"Sakura, I see you're ready"- said the pale stranger mockingly as he noted Naruto's hand on Sakura's elbow.

Footsteps were heard from the inside, approaching the door.

-"Oh, but if it isn't Sasuke Uchiha himself. Long time no see!"- exclaimed the other man, with disguised interest.

-"Sai...!"- mumbled the Uchiha and for a moment Naruto felt himself lost as to what was going on in this strange interaction.

-"What are you..."- Sasuke had started asking but Sakura beat him to it.

-"He came to pick me up. Let's go Sai"- she said sweetly, almost too sweetly to be believable.

-"But wouldn't it be lovely if Sasuke could come too. Like in the old good times. Remember Sasuke?"- said Sai and Sasuke had to fight the urge to gag and punch him at the same time.

Sakura couldn't stop herself to lock eyes with Naruto, seeing the desperation and fear on them.

It did not matter how much she would have liked to tell Naruto the truth about Sasuke and even about herself and finally let that heavy weight go off her shoulders, when Naruto had that expression on his blue eyes, the deepest of sadness reaching her through blue-sky summers', she decided she would take that to her tomb.

-"Let's go Sai"- she said with a security and firmness this Sai man hadn't known in her... but Sasuke and Naruto did...

-"Well, guess I'll be seeing you around then"- said Sai and grabbing Sakura by the waist pulled her forcefully out of the apartment.

When her green emerald eyes made contact with Naruto's blue ones, a small conversation happened between them, one that neither one of the other was conscious of, but was there still. Both male wanted to run behind her; but something in the last look she had sent them told them that they shouldn't.

Sasuke didn't even realize if he had closed the door or if it had been Naruto, but he came back to himself when he felt the cold wall on his back while he slid to the floor.

-"Sasuke?"- he heard the unasked question lingering in between them, but was thankful Naruto had not voiced it.

It could wait, it would have to wait...Right now, he just wanted Naruto.

No, not wanted him, he NEEDED Naruto, he needed him with such a strength he was scare of the intensity of it.

-"Naruto... I just..."- he started, but couldn't even finish his sentence.

Naruto knew the other man was about to say something that might change everything forever and he wasn't ready for that just yet; he wanted this to last a little longer, just a little longer...

Their lips met half way into their kiss, desperate hands started unraveling both clothing and soul alike, while they left hot trails in their wake.

If only they could feel each other, only each other and nothing else, not fear, nor sadness, nor pain; just the feeling of hot skin, just the smell of wind that came to Sasuke whenever he kissed and nibbled on Naruto's neck, the taste of coffee and cigarettes that lingered on Sasuke's lips.

There was the faint sound of Sasuke's cell phone ringing, but before Sasuke could reach for it, a tan hand stopped him.

-"Leave it. I feel like every time a phone rings in this place is bad news… And I don't wanna know right now…"- he mumbled his lips still so very close to Sasuke's own that he could feel more than hear what he said.

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If you like it and you know it drop your pants! hehehehe, just kidding; but if you DO like it, drop a comment!


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for teh long wait, but is not really like there was anyone waiting for it, now was it... I had a very good excuse for being so late, but I completely forgot and so yeah never mind hehehe

Thanks to my amazing beta **S.H. Nina** who does an amazing job!! I hope you had lots of fun at Spain!! I wana see pictures!!

Here it is then! The next will take longer because guess what! I found myself a life!!

So yea, if you like it please review because it's always I good motivation...

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The headboard banging against the wall was the only coherent sound in the room; pleasure-filled moans resonated through the walls of the dark room.

-"Sa- agghhh… Sa-suke"- grunted Naruto, as a pale hand wrapped itself around both their shafts, rubbing against each other, grinding in a mad dance, a desperate race to reach whatever goal could be at the end.

Sasuke actually found the sound of violent rattling quite erotic… he had come to associate that sound with intense sexual activities.

_-"Ahhhh… nggg.. right there… YES! Right there!"- moaned Sasuke in a most unmanly manner, but he could not find it in himself to care as the other man, nameless and faceless, was pounding him against a borrowed mattress._

_-"Yeah, that's it! Tell me how you want it!"- answered the husky voice of the other male as he sped up his pace._

_The sound of the headboard banging against the wall set their maddening pace of thrusting._

Even though Sasuke did not really wanted to be thinking about the past, about faces and names he didn't really know, dark rooms that always smelled of sex, alcohol and lust, he could not stop his mind from going to those all-familiar places.

The squirming man underneath him was quite an erotic sight to behold if he'd ever seen one.

He was willing to admit he was letting himself go a little bit, because after all it had been the blond who had started it.

He had guided Sasuke to his room, ridding both himself and Sasuke of the inconvenient pieces of clothing, as well as the lights in the apartment; kissing and biting all the while, grinding against each other's bodies, seeking the touch of skin against skin.

Sasuke's eyes could make out the blurry form of Naruto's body beneath him in the dark. He could see most clearly the piercing blue eyes; he did not need the light to remember the exact hues and shades of blues, the way he reflected himself like a mirror of his soul.

Naruto was expecting the sudden hit of what he was doing to come and slap him in the face, but as Sasuke's mouth found his nipple and started biting and licking, he completely forgot why he should stop when it felt so good.

-"Nggg… Sasuke… ahhh… yes!"- he couldn't stop himself from saying and felt Sasuke's lips smirking on his skin.

Naruto's hand moved to cover Sasuke's own, pleasuring them both, forcing the other to slow down his frantic rhythm.

The blond wanted to gather his own thoughts.

He was VERY naked, squirming in pleasure underneath Sasuke… and could not deny how much this felt like not enough. He wanted- needed- more of the other, to feel Sasuke's touch so deep inside of himself that he could not be sure if it was his own skin or Sasuke's.

When Sasuke felt the slowing in pace he turned to see Naruto, unable to discern what the other wanted in the poorly lighted room.

-"I want to see you…"- whispered Sasuke huskily on Naruto's ear, causing a shiver to run down the other's spine.

-"I… nngghh… I-I… ahh, yeah… mmm…"- Naruto could stop the pleasure to escape his lips, not that he felt he needed to hide it. He knew something was about to happen, could feel it tingling on his skin, lingering in the sex-filled air.

-"Naruto…"- breathed Sasuke, already losing his mind at the slow pace set by the other: -" I wanna… nnghh… I need ahhh… to see your-ahh, your eyes"- he moaned when Naruto's thumb touch the slit of his erection, still rubbing them together.

Those blue eyes, Sasuke felt, were his only anchor to reality. He needed them, he needed those blue eyes to guide him to whichever place Naruto inhabited.

-"Sasuke…"- breathed Naruto in the most erotic voice Sasuke had ever heard.

They both knew it, it was somehow floating around them, whispering to their ears in a barely audible mumble of desire.

-" I want you…"- one of them mumbled, and both of them stopped when they realized it had been Naruto.

They understood the possible implications of the words being said and they both were wondering something about the same line.

This could not be something lust-driven, animalistic and based on pure instinct.

This is what Sasuke decided as he stopped completely before slowly, as slowly as he could manage, let his hands travel through Naruto's chest.

This wasn't like all the other one-night stand he had had in the past, filled with an unknown passion and lusting, sinful positions and slutty words being shouted in a dark room such as this. This was very different...

Tomorrow, when he woke up, he would find Naruto in his arms, he could have breakfast with him while they joked around, pacing through the apartment in nothing but their boxers. Like he had always wanted to.

His entire body was shaking, and Naruto wasn't sure if it was due to the excitement going through his veins or if it had more to do with the nervousness he felt at having realized what his words implied.

Sasuke was looking at him questioningly and Naruto wasn't sure what he should say... or if he had already said it unknowingly.

-"We don't... you don't need to..."- Sasuke started saying, stumbling with his words and making to stand from his place on top of Naruto, but a tan hand stilled his movements and doubts.

-"I want you"- said Naruto and even if he was still shaking and panting profusely, when he felt Sasuke shifting from a top of him he knew for sure that he indeed wanted Sasuke.

Slowly, as slowly as he could allow himself to, Sasuke rested again on top of Naruto and his lips blindly found their way to meet Naruto's in a kiss.

But this kiss wasn't in any manner as urgent as the ones they had been sharing.

It was a reassuring kiss, a lingering touch that Sasuke knew would stay with him, would walk him to the places he needed to go from then on.

His hands, the same hands that had been so eagerly traveling throughout all of Naruto's tan body, now did the same trajectory with an unknown calmness.

Naruto's hands were resting on Sasuke's back. It was as if both of them knew the approaching storm and where taking the deep breath before the plunge.

When the long kiss finally ended, one of Sasuke's hand reached for his night stand drawer and rummaged though it in search of lube, while his lips where occupied on leaving a mark on Naruto's shoulder.

The sound of Sasuke's hand rummaging through the drawer did weird things to Naruto, it excited him in an odd way, because he knew what was coming next, he knew what that sound meant...

And when the sound of the drawer being shut reached his ears a shiver ran up his spine.

Naruto couldn't quite discern the patterns in the ceiling he was now looking at, and it might have to do with the fact that he had never seen them from this particular angle, laying the bed, underneath Sasuke.

Sasuke's hands were roaming through his lower anatomical regions, having Naruto moan and grunt without control. Both of them were breathing hard and felt like this was a dream and they were about to wake at any minute... any minute now.

The sound of a cap being open was deafening to Naruto's ears, but it caused his cock to twitch with an anticipation he hadn't realized he was feeling.

Everything stilled when Sasuke's fingers found Naruto's entrance.

The shivering and panting from the blond made Sasuke nervous, made him want to stop, turn back and run for the hills; and as he was about to move his hand away, a tan one grabbed his.

Their eyes met and even through the thin darkness surrounding them Sasuke could read what those blue skies were trying to tell him.

He slowly circled the entrance muscle, and Naruto couldn't stop the unmanly squeal that left his lips at the strange sensation.

-"Relax"- said the raven and just then he noticed how raw his voice sounded, how very dry and tired he really felt.

Slowly he pushed the first finger into the blond, who was squirming from the intrusion, but neither of them said anything else as Sasuke's finger moved inside the other; it didn't take long for Sasuke to enter his middle finger easily finding Naruto's prostate and stimulating it.

It took some time, but the strangeness and awkwardness was disappearing and a new sensation, a VERY pleasant one was starting to take complete reign of the situation.

The Uchiha could tell the stimulation was starting to work as he heard Naruto moan his name in a sinful erotic manner.

-"Nggg... Aghhh, Yes! Ahh! Right... nnngh, yes, right there!"- grunted the blond squirming underneath the Uchiha.

He wanted to see this, needed to see it; as if seeing Naruto's face contort in pleasure would make this all the more real. He needed to see how much Naruto liked this, needed to see what kind of power he had over the blond moaning beneath him. He reached over to his bedside lamp and turning it on he was surprised to see blue eyes already looking intently in his direction.

-"I needed to see your eyes..."- breathed Sasuke an explanation that had not been asked.

-"Me... ahhh... me too..."- moaned the blond; all the while Sasuke had never stopped moving his fingers and had even added a third one, but Naruto seemed oblivious to anything else beside the pleasure Sasuke was giving him.

The raven's shaft twitched with anticipation when a particularly low groaning of his name left Naruto's lips, asking for more.

He was not sure how much more of this erotic sight he could take without wanting to pound right into the other like there was no tomorrow; but he needed to be patient, to prepare Naruto as much as he could.

-"Not... mmmm... not just your-your fingers... ahhh, more!"- Naruto managed to make himself coherent enough to say.

Sasuke groaned at the needy tone the blond had used and felt himself get harder.

When the three fingers were removed Naruto's groan resonated through the walls with a low tone and an erotic hint to it.

Sasuke positioned himself in between Naruto's legs.

They both stilled for an infinite second of eternity… This was it; once Sasuke entered Naruto there was no way he would be able to ever leave, he was going to stay inside for good, and they both knew it. It was a terrifying realization, not one they wanted to run away from, but it was, after all, a very big one indeed.

All the troubling emotions, all the pain and uncertainty, all the secrets being kept and pushing them apart, all the fears and hurtful words left them as Sasuke sinfully slowly ease into Naruto.

The uneven breathing and heavy panting filled the room as well as each other's souls that they even didn't know how empty they were until they felt the other.

Naruto's face was contorted in a mix of shock, pain and pleasure and Sasuke was sure he had never seen such a face drawn on the blond.

It felt so right, to have Sasuke entering him; he had always imagined it would feel weird, awkward, uncomfortable. But now, looking into Sasuke's dark eyes he knew how very natural this was.

For a brief moment Naruto thought of how much time they had lost, how many opportunities they had missed, how many kisses and touches they could have shared and were forever lost, because time had passed and he would not be able to bring all that back.

However when Sasuke reached the hilt and they both stilled their every movement and even their souls stopped, the last coherent thought Naruto had was _"I'll make up for it from now on"_.

From then everything seemed like a big blur…

_Aggnnhhh_… grunts and moans, a thin layer of sweat covering their bodies… _Sa-Sasuke, ngghh…_ heavy panting and the creaking of the mattress being pounded… _faster, mmm yeah! Faster…_ the calling of each other's names, blue and dark colliding… _you're so tight…_ their skin felt like burning fire scorching their every fiber… _Naruto agghhh, yes! I'm so… ahhhh, so close!..._ the relentless thrusting in and out, in and out, a mantra echoing on the walls: _Yes, yes, yes, Sasuke, yes!..._ a particularly well-angled penetration, Naruto's legs on Sasuke's shoulders… _how they got there…?... _a spiraling sensation pulling them in, into each other, into a swirl that was bound to keep spinning forever, the coiling sensation at the pit of their stomachs… _Naruto… Sasuke…_

And everything became blue skies and starless nights…

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The effects of the cocaine were starting to wear off and the stranger penetrating her was only making the process of sex much more painful. But she knew she had to bear it, it would be over soon and she would go… somewhere…

She still had a lot of decisions to make about her next move and current situation.

There was so much going on, so much thinking to do… Why couldn't this fucker get it over with so she could go get some more drugs?

The man groaned in an animalistic manner while he sped up his frantic thrusting; she guessed it meant it would be over really soon…

He shoved deeper into her and with one last contained scream, he shot his load into her, still ramming against her viciously, his finger digging painfully on her hips, riding his orgasm and with the last few shallow thrusts, he fell on top of her with all his weight.

The mixed sound of the room made her feel sad for some unknown reason; not guilty, not used and disgusted with herself and the man still inside of her, not weary or heavy with resentment… just sad.

The moonlight filtered through the partially closed curtains and every once in a while she could heard the distinctive sound of a car speeding down the street, the front head light creating odd shaped shadows in the wall with peeling wallpaper, the red rear light of cars moving forward and leaving her behind gave the room an eerie feeling from time to time.

The now even breathing of the stranger on top of her resonating near her ear, where he had found purchase for his head, in the junction of her shoulder and neck, a place of her anatomy she would normally consider too intimate, but given the situation, she would allow it.

An ambulance siren blared on the outside, waking the seemingly asleep man, causing him to stir and finally remove himself from inside her.

-"Thanks honey, you were great"- said the hoarse dry voice of the male now making his way to the other side of the room where most of his clothing laid rumpled.

She didn't move a muscle as the man went about the room, dressing himself; she wouldn't even be bothered with covering herself, because after all, he had already seen it all.

-"So… you have a name?"- he asked reaching the door, his hand already moving to the doorknob, hinting her of his real lack of interest on her answer.

-"Sakura"- she mumbled and after a grunt of acknowledgment at the name, she only heard the sound of the door being closed.

Not far from there she could hear the faint and yet annoying sound of a car alarm going off; a dog barking a few houses away and a crying baby being hushed.

All this felt strange and uncertain, and she felt she shouldn't be wasting another minute in that lonely dark place her soul was taking her… Yet, where else could she go?

She had no home to return to, no blue skies to look at. Hell, she didn't even have Lee anymore. She couldn't see herself going back to him after this; she would just feel so dirty, so used, so cheap. He didn't deserve someone like her; he deserved someone better, better than the piece of scum she was.

She wanted to get up, get dressed and go get her next dose; but she just couldn't muster the needed strength, couldn't find in herself the woman she once was… It was as if she was at the same pit hole all over again.

_The rustling sound of clothing resonated through the hotel room's peeling walls._

_She hadn't even dared to move, still coming down from her cocaine high and the lousy sex she had shared with a nameless man._

_Sakura knew Sai was using her; but she couldn't give a damn about it._

_-"How old are you, anyways?"- asked the older man fumbling with his belt._

_-"sixteen"- she answered bluntly, not expecting the man to be surprised; after all he had come to Sai looking for younger woman to have sex with._

_-"I hope I wasn't your first"- he joked sitting on the bedside, tying his shoelaces._

_She stared at the white ceiling for a long, long time._

_The man, who hadn't even waited for her answer, had long since left, leaving her with the humming sound of the room's air conditioner still running. Sakura knew she would have to leave very soon, since the man had only paid for a certain amount of hours; and even if the whole "event" hadn't taken that long, she didn't want to stay there for long._

_She stood from the bad tiredly and made her way around the room searching for the items of clothing that lay littered around, dirtying the room more than it already was._

_When she was mostly dressed, her cell phone rang, the cheerful sound of "my humps" echoing on the eerie place._

_-"Hey! Hello honey, what you need?"- she answered having immediately recognized the ringtone her blond friend had set up._

_On the other side of the line she heard the shaken tone of Naruto asking her to come over; he was feeling weak, broken, he was going to do it again…_

_-"I'll be right over"- she said hurriedly fumbling with her shoes and making her way out._

She stared long and hard at her cell phone laying on the floor, almost as if to will it to ring… But it didn't, she knew it wouldn't…

How much she wished Naruto could save her now, could be there for her as she had been for him… but he wouldn't, dammit! He just couldn't. How was she expecting him to help her if she didn't even tell him what was wrong?

But she had decided she was to purge herself of her own sins, go down to her personal hell… and maybe, if she was lucky, she wouldn't need to come back to face the consequences of her harsh decision hunting her.

-"I loved you Naruto"- she mumbled to the dark, realizing just how very quiet it had become after a few minutes. Her wrist watch read way past midnight and she felt beyond tired at this point, but knew there was no going back to that apartment, at least not right now…

She knew she was the kind of person to fall fast, trusting too much in promises that had never really been made.

When had Naruto ever said he would love her unconditionally? Sure, he had said he would be by her side as the best of friends; but when had he ever implied he would always be there for her. She knew how very selfish she was being, wanting something that wasn't hers to want, wishing to have it here right now… No, better not go down that well-known path. Her worst mistakes had been made when thinking with that part of her own self.

Sakura had always had this feeling that she had been overstaying her welcome on Naruto's heart; she knew how truly caring and giving Naruto could be, and she could admit to having taken advantage of that… but it was always, at the end, only those two, only Naruto and Sasuke.

She eyed her watch yet again and mumbling to herself she realized that: -_"I've stayed far too long…"- _but she wasn't all that sure what she meant by it. The reflection on the mirror of a tired woman told her it wasn't so bad, it wasn't really that bad…

The lights in the hallway blinded her as she made her way out of the room and to the stairs where most likely Sai would already be waiting for her.


End file.
